Logopolis Now!
by Anguirus111
Summary: When a world rises from the ashes, a Time Lord finds he is in over his head, and in a deadly trap that even a Doctor and a Master might not be able to escape from.
1. Latheria

A/N: I've always been extremely interested in Logopolis. I'm not really sure why. It may have been because it was my first real encounter with the Master, it may have been because it was the last of Tom Baker's stories, I don't know. But something about that story to me sets it apart from nearly every other serial and I felt that the Doctor and the Master had to revisit what happened when a major chunk of the universe was just blanked out of existence. To me, it's perhaps one the best serials that defines just who the two are.

TARDIS: The Tenth Doctor was sitting in his chair with his legs propped up on the control console as the TARDIS hurtled through time and space for parts unknown. He had just finished 'saving' the Titanic from certain doom and with Martha off getting her medical license, he found himself once more alone, a trait that was becoming more and more common these days. It wasn't something he was fond of, but sometimes even a Time Lord needed a little time off. And so he was finally getting around to his reading list which had been put off for far too long.

"_It was the best of times it was the worst of times_," thought the Doctor as he read the opening to A Tale of Two Cities. "Well that certainly seems apt."

But before he could even read the next line…

BONG BONG BONG

The sound of a cloister bell ringing startled the Doctor to the point that he fell off of his chair and crashed onto the metal grating below.

"Oh…what now?" the Doctor complained as he got back up. He walked over to the viewer console and flipped it on as he looked at the readings, which predictably made no sense.

"_Terrific_," the Time Lord thought, annoyed. He lazily walked around the console throwing various switches and levers. Yawning, he watched as the central column began pulsing as the sounds of the TARDIS dematerializing could be heard.

"Better go meet the neighbors," said the Doctor to no one in particular. He just shook his head at the empty console chamber before grabbing his coat and heading for the doors. As he exited, he was greeted by the sight of tall blocks of stone with small doorways carved into them. The Doctor noted this and kept moving along the deserted streets. A little concerned, the Time Lord used his sonic screwdriver to scan the air but it came up empty in terms of anything deadly in the air and so he continued on amongst the various stone buildings.

Time passed…

After an hour of searching and finding nothing, the Doctor was getting a little fed up with it all. He really wanted to leave and go somewhere else but the Cloister Bell only rang when there was an impending universe catastrophe and the Doctor couldn't ignore that warning, even if he wanted to. And so he continued walking, wondering how a deserted planet could cause anything. But before he could become even more bored, the sounds of activity finally caught his attention.

"_It's about time_," thought the Time Lord grateful as he made off for the noise. Racing through several more blocks, he finally happened upon a massive spaceship sitting in what must have been the equivalent of the town square. He watched as various human scientists and soldiers were wandering around the area with scanners and other items to investigate the area. Wasting no time, the Doctor walked straight up to a female giving out orders.

"Hello," said the Doctor with a big grin. The woman didn't even bother looking up.

"I suppose you'll be wanting your assignment," she said as she was busy looking at her padd that showed a layout of the city and where all the team members apparently were.

"Sure," said the Doctor mildly amused. The woman pulled up a section of the map.

"Search Grid 12-A for any signs of life or anything that can tell us more about this planet," the woman continued. She finally looked up at the Doctor.

"Where's your padd?" she asked looking at the Doctor.

"I uh-misplaced it," the Doctor lied as he patted down his coat but came up empty. "Sorry."

"Here you can take my extra one," the woman answered as she fished into her pocket and gave another padd to the Doctor who looked it over. "Next time be more…wait who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor," said the Time Lord offering his hand to the woman. The female was taken aback by this.

"You're not with the expedition?" she said surprised. The Doctor shook his head.

"No I was just passing through when this place caught my eye," he said before eyeing her ID tag. "So what are you doing out here Commander Tarrant?"

"I'm not saying anything until I figure out how you found your way into restricted space," said Commander Tarrant crossing her arms. "How did you get here? This area…"

"…Is restricted I know," said the Doctor nodding his head. "Can't figure out why though, there are no pathogens in the atmosphere, no noticeable technology on the surface, it's beyond me. What's going on here?"

Tarrant's eyes narrowed at him. "You're the strangest looter I've ever seen."

"The best usually are," answered the Doctor amused. Commander Tarrant started laughing despite herself.

"Well…maybe you're not a looter," she conceded. "But how did you get past the blockade?"

"It's easy when you're a Time Lord," answered the last of the species. Tarrant looked at him doubtful.

"The Time Lords are a myth," she said dismissively. "If they existed, the Marine Space Corp. would've found them by now."

"We're harder to find than you realize," said the Doctor slightly depressed at that statement.

"So is this your homeworld?" asked Tarrant as she looked through her binoculars at the research team.

"I'm afraid not," said the Doctor anxious to get off of the subject of his people. "What world is this?"

"We don't know," said Tarrant. "But if you're who you claim to be shouldn't you know? I mean you came here after all."

The Doctor shrugged helpless. "My ship brought me here by accident really. But this place does feel somewhat familiar. I think I've been here before."

"I don't see how," said Tarrant. "This world just suddenly appeared in a region of space that's been vacant of celestial bodies for the past several millennia."

"What?" said the Doctor confused.

"You really don't know what's going on do you?" said Tarrant at a loss. The Doctor slowly shook his head.

"Fine," said Tarrant slightly annoyed. "This whole region of the universe has been empty for millennia. We don't know what happened only that it did. No stars, no planets, no nebulas, zilch. And now this planet appears seemingly out of the blue along with its own star. It doesn't make any sense and because we were the closest vessel, the Marine Space Corp. sent us to figure out what's going on."

The Doctor nodded. "That is a bit odd I'll give you that. I have heard of planets moving before but rarely a star and without anyone noticing it? Curiouser and curiouser."

"So you'll help us?" asked Tarrant. She wasn't sold on him being a Time Lord but he had gotten here without them noticing but she doubted there was anything worth stealing given the cost of how long of a journey it took to actually get here from known space.

"Absolutely," the Doctor agreed. He pulled out his screwdriver again and altered the scanner with it and was heading off when Tarrant grabbed his arm.

"Until I figure out who you really are you're not leaving my sight," stated Tarrant. The Doctor looked at her hand then at her.

"I work alone," he swore.

"You either work with me or you find out everything we find out from our brig," said Tarrant refusing to back down. The Doctor just shook off her arm and walked off as she followed him. Rather than head for 12-A the Doctor just kept walking towards an unknown destination.

"Where are you going?" demanded Tarrant finally.

"Whatever is going on here, you're not going to find it in the middle of town," said the Doctor not stopping. "Civilians lived there, not anybody important. Typically the more important stuff occurs beyond the city limits."

Tarrant had never considered this. "Maybe you are a Time Lord."

"The last," said the Doctor bitterly. "The rest came and went in a war with the Daleks taking them with them. Death to the Daleks...and the Time Lords."

"Oh so that's where they went," said Tarrant. "I never actually fought against them but I heard some horror stories from my sister Jill."

"Yeah…," said the Doctor before something hit him. "I met her once she was looking for some cure to a disease that was ravaging your colonies. Funny, the Daleks were there too."

The two had nearly reached the city limits at the top of a long sloping hill. They stopped and then looked out amongst the city made of stone.

"Query," said the Doctor. "If a species was able to form a complex city grid like this and managed to form artificial living spaces inside of large stone blocks and yet have no visible technology, how did they pull it off?"

"They may have had technology and then left with all of it," suggested Tarrant.

"Possibly," the Doctor conceded as he squatted down and picked up some of the sand below them and rubbed it in his hand as it fell away. "Or else they didn't need it."

"What are you saying?" asked Tarrant. The Doctor stood up again.

"Nothing," he said shaking his head. "Just thinking aloud, now come on."

The Doctor held up the portable scanner and waved it around the area.

"Ah there we go, low level power source," said the Doctor pleased as he looked at the readout. Tarrant took out hers and looked at it.

"I don't read anything," she stated. The Doctor meanwhile was looking at a small rock formation jutting out of the ground and was moving his hands across it.

"It's definitely there," said the Time Lord as he thrust out his hand and his Sonic Screwdriver shot out into his hand. Tarrant immediately had her laser pistol in her hand pointing at him.

"Calm down," said the Doctor looking at her. "It's only a screwdriver."

The Doctor flipped on the device and began waving it around the rock but came up with nothing.

"Interesting," he said before taking out another device; this one much larger than his sonic screwdriver.

"Another screwdriver?" said Tarrant confused. "How many do you need?"

"Phillips," said the Doctor showing the first device and then switching to the other. "Flathead. Sonic…laser."

"Laser?" said Tarrant even more nervous as the Doctor waved both devices over the rock.

"I disabled the laser function," said the Doctor before adding. "Along with a few other features."

Finally aiming both devices at the rock, both activated and then the sound of gears moving was heard. Then a section of the rock wall retracted revealing an entryway with steps leading down into the darkness.

"Let's go," said the Doctor already heading down the steps.

"Wait," said Tarrant before producing her radio. "Scott?"

"Yeah," came the response.

"I've found something at the top of the hill so get your teams up here," said Tarrant putting the thing away. The Doctor blinked.

"_You_ found something?" he asked doubtful. Tarrant sighed and ran her hand down her face.

"I'll explain you later," she promised. The Doctor just turned around and vanished into the darkness with only the LEDs from the screwdrivers lighting his way. They went down several flights of stairs until emerging into an underground bunker with various bits of technology around it. The Doctor walked over and flipped on the lights and sat down at one of the consoles as he put the Sonic Screwdriver in his mouth like it was a small flashlight as he pocketed the laser screwdriver and looked at the computer screen.

"Huh," he said leaning back in the chair and using his jaw to make the screwdriver rise and fall.

"What?" asked Tarrant taking a seat next to him. The Doctor leaned his arm on the armrest in an imitation of the classic thinker's pose.

"This equipment has telemetry for the various stars that should be in the sky above us but according to you are not," explained the Doctor. "But I can't figure out how this data can be here without a device to actually scan the horizons."

"Maybe it's hidden somewhere," suggested Tarrant. The Doctor nodded and got up.

"Yes there has to be a control panel here somewhere to raise the antenna," he stated before taking one last fleeting glance at the telemetry data. "_Where have I seen that star chart before…?_"

But he couldn't dwell on it as he looked through the various boards and switches.

"Dish Controls," the Doctor said pleased as he pressed a large red button and suddenly the whole room began shaking.

"Quake!" shouted Tarrant as she ran for the exit as small pieces of the ceiling began raining down. The Doctor grabbed her before she could bolt up the steps and held her underneath the doorway while the ceiling began slowly collapsing around them. Finally the shaking stopped and the Doctor looked up at the exit that had small stones along it.

"Let's go," he stated bolted up the stairs in his trainers. The Time Lord and the human emerged into the daylight and what they saw caused the color to drain from the Doctor's face.

"No, no, no, no, no!" he shouted at the heavens. Now rising high above the city of stone was a massive radar dish.

"What?" demanded Tarrant. "What is it?"

"It's can't exist, this can't be possible!" shouted the Doctor seemingly oblivious to her. "I saw this world burn! It was destroyed in the entropy!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" demanded Tarrant grabbing a hold of the Doctor and shaking him to try and get him to calm down. The look the Doctor gave her terrified her as it was the sign of a man who had seen a ghost.

"We've got to go," the Doctor insisted. "We've got to escape. We can't be here!"

With that he tore free of her grip and took one last look at the dish before doing what any sane person would have done in his position.

He ran.

Earth 2007: A lone pyre sat abandoned and alone in the middle of a wooded forest. The sound of lone footsteps was heard approaching the setup as a shadow fell over it. A hand appeared carrying a ring that was then pressed into the ashes and a bright light blasted out from the pyre as the ashes inside of it took on the form of a humanoid being.

"At last…," said the Master pleased as he looked up at the earthly sky. "It's about time you…"

The statement died in the Time Lord's throat as he saw who had revived him.

"H-hello o-old friend," stuttered the Doctor tightly gripping himself to try and stop his shaking. The Master sat up and looked at him.

"I take it this isn't a social call," he said resigned, throwing his legs over the side of the pyre.

"Something very bad has happened," the Doctor said calming down. "And we have to find out what."

"I don't see how this is my problem," said the Master standing up and brushing off the stray ashes from his body.

"It's _both_ our problem," the Doctor commented darkly. "We're the cause of it."

"And that would be?" asked the rival Time Lord doubtful. The Doctor looked up at him sadly.

"Logopolis," he answered. The Master looked away from him as he sat back down in a mild daze.

"And why would you be so concerned about a destroyed world?" he asked frankly after a few moments.

"That's just it…," said the Doctor sitting down on the pyre next to him. "It isn't destroyed…."

"It's back,"


	2. Omicron

The Valiant: The massive skyship that had been built by UNIT to defend the world against alien invasion sat on a military runway protected by the best and brightest soldiers in Britain's army. But even they were no match for the intelligence of two Time Lords as the Doctor watched the Master go through his locker, sorting the items he was taking and tossing out those he wasn't.

"You understand I'm only letting you do this under protest," said the Doctor as he leaned against another locker with his arms crossed.

"Just so long as you realize that the same holds true for me coming with you," said the Master looking through a strange alien device before tossing it in the trashcan.

"Touché," the Doctor admitted as the Master sneakily pocketed a small pen-like device into his sleeve.

"I saw that," said the Doctor. The Master looked up at him with a cold stare.

"Then take it from me," he threatened. The Doctor shrugged nonchalantly.

"You can have your Tissue Compression Eliminator so long as I have this," he said holding the laser screwdriver. The Master lunged for it but the Doctor pulled it away from his grasp. The Master laughed and returned his attention to the locker.

"Logopolis," he shaking his head. "I still don't believe that it has returned."

"Neither can I," confessed the Doctor. "But I wouldn't have revived you if it wasn't true."

The Master had to agree with that statement…if it was true.

"How did I know this isn't a trick?" the Master asked. "This could be some sort of elaborate trap on your part to try and get me to repent for my past. Well it won't work."

"I've given up on that line of thought long ago," the Doctor scoffed. "And besides, for all I know this is your doing."

"My doing?" demanded the Master. "Why would I bother bringing back something I've destroyed?"

"You tell me," said the Doctor with a smug grin. The Master didn't respond he just returned to rooting through his locker.

"Are you almost done?" the Doctor asked impatiently as his foot began tapping on the ground.

"What's the rush?" asked the Master nonchalantly.

"The universe could be about to end!" shouted the Doctor.

"And that'd be a shame wouldn't it?" said the Master dryly, egging the Doctor on. "Besides, I thought we already saw the end of the universe. How could it end sooner than Utopia?"

"You know very well the ways it could end sooner," said the Doctor dismissively. "If you hadn't used that Paradox Machine and the Toclafane, you could have destroyed the Earth no problem."

"I'll keep that in mind," said the Master bemused as he finally grabbed a hold of one final object and held it up for the Doctor to see. It was a journal.

"Recognize this?" said the Master holding up the book. The Doctor's eyes went wide open at that. _A Journal of Impossible Things by John Smith_, the title read.

"Where did you get that?" he demanded. "If you-."

"I pilfered it from a museum under the guise of an executive order associated with Torchwood," the Master continued. "And you should be glad I did. I shudder to think what damage this book would have done in the hands of these primitive apes."

"These primitive apes have given you more than enough trouble over the years," commented the Doctor ruefully.

"Because I let them," said the Master cramming all of his belongings into a duffel bag and slinging it over his shoulder.

"Shall we be off?" he asked amicably. The Doctor nodded.

"Halt!" shouted a voice. "Who are you and how did you get in here?"

The two Time Lords turned to see a young private nearby holding a gun at them.

"Oh uh, we're umm…," began the Doctor desperately searching for a valid excuse for them being in this ship. The Master's eyes just narrowed as he stared at the private.

"I am the Master and you will…," he began.

"Never mind that, just run!" shouted the Doctor taking off. The Master groaned, his concentration broken, and took off after him as the private opened fire. The two raced down corridor after corridor with bullets flying past them and ricocheting off nearby objects. They promptly ran up flights of stairs and more corridors before emerging into the daylight amongst the various fighter jets and crew that were on the flight deck as more soldiers fired on them.

"I hate you," said the Master as alarm klaxons began blaring as the Doctor and the Master ran even faster.

"Oh shut up," said the other Time Lord as he produced a device that looked like a tuning fork and whistled at the same time. The sound of the TARDIS dematerializing could be heard just as the two reached the edge of the deck. Without breaking a step, the two took a running leap and flew across the air before crashing down inside the open doors of the hovering time machine and rolled across the floor as the soldiers opened fire from their place on the deck. The Doctor reached up and hit the door switch on control panel and it mercifully closed shut. He then hit the vortex manipulator and the craft vanished into the time stream.

"And away we go thanks to the blessed Statenheim Remote Control," said the Doctor collapsing back onto the metal grate out of breath as the remote clattered down next to him.

Deep Space: A massive spaceship, the Nosferatu II, traveled through space for destinations unknown. Inside the area was a flurry of activity with a large bazaar and various other amenities for the multitude of travelers onboard. Two in particular were walking side by side down the main thoroughfare, one with utterly delight in their eyes, the other with complete contempt.

"Oh I do love little shops," admitted the first looking at them all.

"You tricked me," said the second one complained bitterly. "This isn't Logopolis!"

"We're only passing through I need to pick someone up first who knows more about computers than I ever will," stated the first.

"We are the ultimate power in this universe, no one can be better…," began the second when the intercom came on.

"Greetings all," came the cheery voice. "This is Captain Glitz speaking, I just wanted to let you all know that we're still on course for the Mizma Galaxy and should be arriving by 0800 tomorrow. Cheerio."

"Glitz?" inquired the second ruefully as the first cringed. "Thank you Doctor, perhaps this trip has already been made worthwhile. I'm going to _kill_ him."

"Not now," said the first preventing him from taking off. "You can do that later, we have to hurry and get to Logopolis and there is the person I've been looking for."

"Oh no…," commented the second after spying who it was.

Café: Melanie Bush took her coffee, her glass of water, and her two aspirin and took a seat at one of the many tables. She was the self-appointed chief of engineering onboard the craft and had to make sure it was constantly running and it was beginning to wear down on her sanity. Sabbalom Glitz was the worst captain in the entire space fleet as far as she was concerned and that the passengers hadn't noticed it was a testament to her abilities. But she'd had about enough of it, the only problem being she couldn't escape without Glitz's knowledge. It wasn't that she was a prisoner it was just that she knew he'd try and convince her to stay and knowing his buffoonery meant that whoever else he took on would likely die on his first trip without her. The only possible way she could escape would be to leave the vessel so it could fall apart and still be rescued by the nearest galaxy. That time was now, but how she was going to escape she really had no idea. And so she sat with her coffee and her aspirin like she always did. She was so distracted that she barely noticed two men sit down on the other chairs at her table.

"How've you been Mel?" asked one of the men with a long coat and brown hair. Melanie looked at both of them.

"I'm sorry," she apologized. "Do I know you?"

"A few lifetimes ago, yes," said the brown haired man. The other with short hair and a black business suit dropped his head onto the table with a groan.

"What does that mean?" asked Mel. The man in the suit sat back.

"Yes," he agreed dripping with false curiosity. "What _does_ that mean?"

"You shut up!" said the first pointing at the other. Melanie wasn't sure what to make of any of this.

"Make me!" said the second crossing their arms. "Doctor of all things and the master of lameness is what your title should be."

The first growled as Melanie looked at him.

"Doc?" she asked cautiously. The Doctor stopped and looked at her with a grin.

"Hello Mel," he said. "It's been a long time…for me at least."

"But not long enough for me," the Master grumbled looking away from them annoyed. Melanie hugged the Time Lord.

"Oh Doc, it's been too long for me as well," she said. "Oh I can't tell you what a nightmare it's been here since I left you."

"I can imagine," the Doctor said apologetically as the lights briefly flickered above them.

"So what brings you to Iceworld?" Mel continued pulling free from him. "Social visit?"

"Hardly," said the Doctor shaking his head. "Something's come up and I need your help. Can I drag you away from here from a little bit or are you too busy?"

Melanie shot up surprising them both. "I'm ready to go!"

The Doctor looked at her exuberance wide-eyed.

"Alright then," he finally said.

"I just need to pack a few things and then we can leave," said Mel. The Doctor nodded.

"Docking Bay 4," he said before turning to leave.

"So who is this, a new companion?" asked Melanie of the Master. The other Time Lord turned a crimson shade of red at that statement.

"Uh…no," said the Doctor somewhat amused at the prospect. "He's…my oldest enemy and he'll be helping us just this once."

"Oh," said Melanie nodding before she figured out who it was. "The Master…"

"Are you going to scream in fear, child?" asked the Master with a menacing smile. Melanie raised her right foot and stomped hard on the Master's causing him to bend over in pain before she punched him hard in the gut causing him to fall on the table in a heap.

"I'm no longer the scared girl you once knew," she stated. "I'll see you in a half hour Doc."

"Until then," said the Doctor with a wave. Melanie smiled and left as the Doctor helped the Master to his feet.

"Women," he complained brushing off his suit.

"Oh don't you start," said the Doctor lightly as he clapped the rival Time Lord on the shoulder. "Now let's go shopping!"

But before the Master could protest, both saw Sabbalom Glitz pass by the entrance to the café waving jauntily at everyone as if he were a celebrity.

"I'm not going to _kill_ him," the Master promised coolly. "But I am going to _scare_ him."

The Doctor sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Alright but not to death. And don't go anywhere either I don't want to have to chase after you."

The Master rubbed his knuckles and exited the room. The Doctor stepped into the corridor and watched him go before eyeing a rare bookstore and heading for it.

Corridor: Glitz was adjusting his baldric that indicated he was 'mayor' of the Nosferatu II and hummed happily to himself as he always did on his daily walk amongst the passengers and crew. As he was finally sure that his baldric wasn't folded or creased anywhere, a lone passenger appeared in his path.

"Hello there citizen," said Glitz proudly. The passenger stared back with a rueful smile.

"Hello Glitz," said the man, his voice dripping with malice. "It's been a long time."

Glitz was taken aback by this individual.

"What can I do for you?" he asked somewhat afraid.

"Oh you don't have to do anything for me," said the man innocently before his voice turned evil. "You just have to be who you are, is all."

Glitz quickly began pressing the button on his uniform to call his bodyguards.

"Don't bother," said the man advancing on him. "I've already disabled your comlink and your weapons."

Glitz began backing up in terror.

"Who, who are you?" he asked softly as his whole body began shaking.

"I'm sure you've figured it out already," said the individual. "You betrayed me to the Valeyard, to the Doctor, and to the Time Lords. As the human race says, three strikes and you're out. Well you've just been ejected for bad behavior."

Glitz was nearly in spasms at this point.

"The Master…," he said in a hushed tone. The Master smiled.

"Hello Glitz," said the Time Lord holding up his fist. "It's your Uncle Bingo calling; time to pay the check!"

Glitz's resulting scream echoed down the corridors.

Glitz's Cabin: "You're not going to leave him like that are you?" asked the Doctor leaning against the wall. The Master was placing the miniature shrunken form of Sabbalom Glitz into his bed.

"Unfortunately no," said the Master. "He will restore to his normal size in 24 hours. But it will give him some time to think about his actions."

"Hmmm," said the Doctor nonplussed. "Let's just go."

The two left the room before the Master popped back in and shot off the lights.

"Pleasant dreams Glitz," he said with an evil laugh.

Docking Bay 4: Mel was standing outside the TARDIS with her suitcase fully packed with all of her belongings when the Doctor and the Master found her.

"Ready?" asked the Doctor opening the door.

"Let's roll," said Melanie hefting her suitcase and entering into the device. The Master was about to enter as well when he paused and looked at the Doctor.

"You're awfully chipper about all this," he observed. The Doctor's expression sobered up at that statement.

"Believe me when we get to Logopolis it will literally be like getting out of the frying pan and into the fire," he stated. "That's why I need you to come with me."

"You realize that by bringing me along, I may only make the situation worse," the Master stated. The Doctor nodded.

"That's a risk I'm willing to take," he said. "Now let's go."

The Master nodded and entered into the TARDIS as the Doctor followed suit and soon it vanished from the bay.

Logopolis: The science was team was scanning the entire dish when a cranking noise was heard and the TARDIS materialized below it. The Doctor stepped out and looked at the dish with dismay that it was still there. The Master stepped out and was briefly startled by seeing that the planet really did exist. He then looked around suspiciously but nothing leapt out to get him and so he followed the Doctor. Lastly, Melanie Bush stepped out having changed from her mechanic jumpsuit into an outfit similar to what the Ninth Doctor wore and followed them to Commander Tarrant.

"Commander," the Doctor acknowledged.

"Surprised you came back," said Tarrant impressed. "You took off like a bat out of hell."

"I had to clear my head and pick up some people who could help us," responded the Time Lord. "Anything change while I was gone?"

"Yeah," said Tarrant nodding her head. "He should be coming by any minute now."

"He?" asked the Master and the Doctor at the same time. A moment later a human looking individual approached them dressed in ceremonial robes.

"Hello," said the man as he offered his hand. "I am the Monitor, the leader of the Logopolitans, and who might you be?"

The Doctor and the Master's expressions dropped into shock at that with their jaws falling and their eyes bugging out.

Nearby Ridge: Two beings watched them two Time Lords stunned stupor through binoculars.

"Tell the Empress that now both targets have arrived," said one of the individuals.

"Roger," said the other producing a radio. "Ma'am, the Time Lords are here."

"Excellent," came a female voice's response. "At last the architects will answer for their crime of universal genocide."

"What shall we do now?" asked the radio operator.

"Continue to observe them," said the Empress. "And when they time comes, we shall kill them."


	3. Ganderia

Logopolis: The Doctor and the Master were sitting with their backs resting on one of the metal tresses supporting the huge dish above them. Neither was saying anything, as the Monitor was walking slowly with Mel and Commander Tarrant answering their questions.

"Logopolis is a world dedicated to solving the problems of the universe through pure mathematics," said the Monitor. "Everything we calculate can take physical form and as such that is why so little technology is visible on the surface and yet is so mathematical in origin."

"Interesting," said Mel looking out at the city. "I used to teach theoretical mathematics and this was something myself and the other teachers used to joke about. I never thought it would be practical."

"Oh it's not practical," the Monitor assured her. "It's very dangerous and can only be performed by those here on Logopolis."

They were passing by the Doctor and the Master and the Monitor watched them curiously.

"Your friends seem awfully concerned about something," he observed. Mel shrugged.

"They're Time Lords, what do you expect?" she said offhand. Tarrant stopped at that.

"Time _Lords_?" she inquired confused. The Monitor nodded his head.

"Ah yes our dear friends from Gallifrey," said the Monitor pleased. "I'm delighted they've finally decided to show an interest in our work after all these years. So tell me what brings you to our fair world?"

Tarrant couldn't figure out how to respond to that and Mel still had no clue why they were here and so both waited for the Doctor or the Master to say something.

"Entropy," said the Doctor softly not looking at the Monitor.

"What?" asked the Monitor confused.

"Entropy?" said the Doctor more forcefully. "Does it mean anything to you?"

"Well of course," said the Monitor as if this should be obvious. "Entropy occurs when the universe has experienced heat death and is going to burn itself out. It will eliminate anything in its path."

"That _isn't_ what he asked you," said the Master angrily with pure hate in his eyes.

"And why does any of this matter?" inquired the Monitor.

"Yeah Doc, what's going on?" asked Mel curious.

"What happened doesn't concern you," said the Master getting up. "Only what's going on now."

"You can't just-," began Mel upset when the Doctor held her by the shoulders.

"Just let it go," said the Doctor to her. "I need you to go to the control room below and tell me everything that radio receiver's been scanning since…when did this world first appear?"

"Six months ago," answered Tarrant.

"Good, you go help her," said the Doctor showing Mel to the stairwell. "Careful down there, there might still be more rocks waiting to fall."

"This isn't over," said Mel finally leaving the two Time Lords alone with the Monitor, save for the science crews sprawled all over the antenna who weren't really paying them any attention.

"Gentlemen I don't see what your fascination is with entropy," said the Monitor nervously now that he was alone with the two.

"What about Charged Vacuum Embroitments?" asked the Doctor simply as he put his hands into his coat pockets.

"How do you know about that?" demanded the Monitor.

"You _told_ us!" said the Master grabbing the Monitor and shaking him vigorously. "What kind of a trap have you set for us?!?!"

"Let him go!" said the Doctor pressing the laser screwdriver to the back of the Master's neck. A guttural noise escaped from the Master's throat but he otherwise let the Logopolitan go.

"This won't solve anything," the Master declared, facing the Doctor. "Let me interrogate him and we will have all the answers we need."

"You're assuming he knows anything more about this than we do," said the Doctor putting away the screwdriver.

"And you're assuming he's doesn't," the Master shot back. "Either way, I'll at least know which. Think about that, Doctor."

The Master then stormed off towards the city below as the Doctor watched him go with a saddened expression.

"He is a passionate individual," commented the Monitor.

"He has every reason to be," said the Doctor facing the Monitor. "And he's right. For all I know this _is_ a trap being set by you and your people."

"Why would we set a trap?" asked the Monitor showing confusion on his face.

"Do you know who I am?" asked the Doctor bluntly.

"Yes, you're a Time Lord," answered the Monitor not sure where this was going. The Doctor whirled to face him angrily.

"Once again, you _didn't_ answer my question," responded the Time Lord in an eerie repeat of what the Master had said earlier.

"I apologize," said the Monitor. "I don't know who you are. Is there any reason I should?"

"Because we met before," answered the Doctor frankly. "When the universe died."

City: The Master wandered down the various streets and walkways trying to decide what his next course of action would be. He could steal the TARDIS but he figured the Doctor would have implemented new safeguards that would take time to circumvent. His next thought was he could steal the ship these Space Marines had come on, but even if he could pull it off it would take too long to hypnotize them all and he couldn't fly the ship just by himself. That and it would be impossible to outrun the TARDIS forced him to abandon both ideas. Not that he was necessarily downtrodden by that aspect. There were bigger things going on here and someone was playing them like a lystrian aharpsicord. The Master knew the signals all too well he'd often done similar things in his long and illustrious career as a villain. But for once he wasn't responsible for what was going on with this world.

Or he didn't think so. There had been a few rare occasions when a plan he'd started and abandoned later came to haunt him but he didn't think that was the case here.

"_Logopolis_," thought the Master with a regretful sigh. He'd screwed up royally all those years ago, he wasn't afraid to admit it. But it hadn't been his fault. If that accursed Monitor had just been upfront with him about what the Logopolitans were really doing on this backwater planet, then the ensuing catastrophe would never have happened. Sure he'd taken advantage of the situation once he'd realized what was going on, but any sane person would have done the same in his position. The Doctor of course wasn't one of those people and so the greatest power and money making scheme in the whole of creation had become a giant bust. But the remaining CVEs were still out there funneling the entropy effect into other universes and the Master did wonder if his earlier plan could not be revived with the return of Logopolis.

"_No…better not risk it_," the Master's inner voice told him. The destruction of the so many galaxies was too much devastation even for him and he didn't want to accidentally set entropy off again. The risks really just weren't worth the rewards. But once he found out who had restored this world to its former glory, he would take advantage of their plan and use it towards his own ends. It sure beat being bored waiting for something to happen.

Crunch

The Master whipped around and aimed his Eliminator at the disturbance as Commander Tarrant appeared from around a corner.

"Sorry to surprise you," she apologized, holding up her hands in defense. The Master briefly considered using the Eliminator anyway but just pocketed the device instead.

"On the contrary," he stated. "I was aware of you already. When you entered into firing range, that's when I acted."

He then walked off again as Tarrant chased after him.

"So who are you?" she prodded. "What's your name?"

"Why do you care?" asked the Master harshly as he quickened his pace.

"Because you and your friend could be a potential threat to my crew," said Tarrant unapologetically.

"_Your_ crew? Shouldn't that be the _captain's_ concern?" asked the Master amused. It got the rise he expected out of the Commander.

"Don't think I haven't heard that one a thousand times before," she said with malice in her voice.

"Just goes to show you that _I_ am the threat to your crew. The Doctor is harmless unless you provoke his wrath, which believe you don't want to do," said the Master finally slowing his pace when he realized she wasn't leaving anytime soon. The Master chuckled briefly as he wondered whether or not the device he had used to control the Doctor's former companion Nyssa had been restored along with the rest of the planet, and he could then use to control this irritant. But even if it had, he had no idea where it would be.

"So do you have a name or am I just supposed to call you chuckles?" asked Tarrant rudely breaking into his maniacal fantasies.

"I am the…," began the Master when a thought occurred to him. "I'm Harold Saxon."

"I'll bet," said Tarrant not believing him. The Time Lord stopped in his tracks.

"You doubt me?" said the Master with a mild threat in his voice.

"Yeah I do," said Tarrant not backing down. "Your buddy calls himself the Doctor and since you and he seem to be two peas from the same pod, it'd stand to reason that your name would be along the same lines."

"Then call me the Physician and leave," the Master stated stalking off.

"What happened here when you and the Doctor were last here?" demanded Tarrant trying a new tactic.

"Nothing," said the Master refusing to answer.

Radar Dish: "What do you mean the CVEs failed?" said the Monitor not believing a word of it. "They couldn't have failed or I would know about it."

"Do you see any stars or any celestial body in that sky besides your sun?" asked the Doctor annoyed as he raised his hands to the heavens.

"With our sun we cannot see any stars or else we wouldn't need the telescope," answered the Monitor avoiding the question. The Doctor's eyes narrowed.

"I have been very lenient with you Monitor," he said darkly. "If you avoid my questions again I _will_ let the Master interrogate you. Is that clear?"

"Very," said the Monitor somewhat disturbed by the sudden change in the Time Lord's demeanor.

"So you don't think that having no stars in the sky is indicative of anything, that's fine," said the Doctor. "But where are your people?"

"What?" said the Monitor stunned heading for the crest of the hill. "My people should be down in the city!"

"There's nobody there," said the Doctor not caring. "Why is there nobody there?"

"I-I don't know," said the Monitor collapsing at the sight of the empty city aside from the science team. "How can Logopolis survive now?"

"How you survived already is what I want to know," said the Doctor. "What memories do you have prior to six months ago when this planet first appeared again in known space?"

"I just recall performing small calculations and then these humans finding me," said the Monitor.

"And you didn't find the lack of Logopolitans just the slight bit odd?" asked the Doctor, his voice indicating just how ridiculous an idea that was.

"I don't remember there ever being no Logopolitans until you just mentioned it," said the Monitor at a complete loss.

"Then do you ever recall me contacting you to see about fixing the chameleon circuit on my TARDIS?" continued the Doctor. The Monitor shot up.

"This is a sick joke isn't it!" he shouted. "What have you done with my people? Are the Time Lords trying to take control of Logopolis?!?!"

"The Time Lords are all dead!" shouted the Doctor as he reached deep into his coat. "And I _was_ here; these were the calculations you gave me!"

The Doctor handed a card to the Monitor and he looked it over in shock.

"Wait these are-," he began.

"Wrong I know," said the Doctor nodding his head. "But you did do them."

"Yes…I did," agreed the Monitor sitting down exhausted. The Doctor just lightly shook his head in what he hoped would be legitimate sympathy. If the Monitor was acting he was doing a good job of it.

"I don't suppose your people had a backup mathematical plan to revive your species and your world in the event entropy happened," suggested the Doctor.

"Don't be ridiculous, entropy cannot be undone," stated the Monitor bitterly.

"Then how is it you're here?" asked the Doctor simply.

"I don't know," said the Monitor extremely downtrodden now. "If I had my people here, I might be able to give you an answer but I cannot do so by myself."

"I can help you," offered the Doctor apologetically. "I have a TARDIS, it should be able to do the calculations that your people would ordinarily provide."

"Yes…," said the Monitor nodding, with a distant expression on his face. "Yes…that should provide the necessary equipment to make the…the calculations."

The Monitor stumbled trying to get to his feet as the Doctor rushed to help him.

"You'll have to forgive me," said the Monitor weakly. "I need some time alone t-to deal with this."

The Doctor nodded and he put his hand on the Monitor's shoulder in sympathy.

"I know what it's like to be the last of your species," he responded. "It takes time, but you'll…"

The Time Lord trailed off at that as he looked down at the ground and once more shoved his hands deep into his pockets.

"Just don't take too long," the Time Lord continued. "The fate of universe is at stake."

The Monitor nodded vacantly and stumbled off as Mel appeared.

"Where's Commander Tarrant?" asked the Time Lord.

"She chased after the Master for whatever reason," Mel answered. The Doctor looked over and concentrated on the city. Finally reaching some unknown answer he nodded and turned to Mel.

"So what'd you find out?" he asked. Melanie handed him a computer printout.

"Reading are completely uninterrupted," she said. "Except at the six-month interval, all the stars mysteriously vanished from the sky."

The Doctor read the results over.

"And how did the dish get underground?" asked the Time Lord still reading.

"Nearest I can figure is that it was the result of a failsafe that kicked in when the dish remained unattended for so long," explained the human. The Doctor nodded and noticed the readings cutout at some point after the six-month interval.

"Wait," said the Doctor. "Why aren't there any readings after I reactivated the antenna?"

"I don't know," confessed Mel. "That's why I came up here. We should be getting readings but we're not. That's why I came back out here."

"Well the only way it would give no readings would be if…," began the Doctor before his voice trailed. "Oh no…"

The Doctor shot off down the hill towards the city. Mel watched him go for a few moments before tearing off after him.

City: The Master paced impatiently back and forth as he stopped occasionally and checked his old twenty-first century watch, looked up at the sky, tapped his foot impatiently, and resumed pacing.

"Are you expecting something?" asked Tarrant sitting on a nearby rock perplexed.

"Perhaps," said the Master noncommittally. "Now what do I have to do to get rid of you?"

"Just answer me this, if the Doctor said he was the last of the Time Lords, then how can you also be a Time Lord?" asked Tarrant.

"Because my dear, I'm not a Time Lord," answered the Master. "Or to be precise, I don't follow the Time Lord ideology of non-interference. I believe that this universe is a dangerous place that can only be peaceful if the Time Lords, any by that I mean myself, seize power to dominate it. The Time Lords of course are completely against such thoughts and so I'm not really one of them am I?"

"I hadn't thought of it like that," said Tarrant thinking. "Okay then how do you know the Doc-"

THOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!

A gigantic fireball erupted in the upper atmosphere as large chunks of flaming debris began raining down from above.

"Oh finally," said the Master relieved as he felt the tension draining away from him. "It's about bloody time."

"What the hell is going on?" demanded Tarrant leaping to her feet and pulling out her laser gun. "What have you done?"

"My dear I haven't done anything," said the Master with a massive grin. "I just knew something that you hadn't thought of."

The sounds of rocket engines were heard ripping through the sky above them from unseen craft.

"Which is?" said Tarrant aiming her gun at him.

"My dear," began the Master simply as he calmly placed his hands into the lower pockets of his all black suit. "What do you think of when see this world?"

The flaming meteorites began pummeling the ground all around them throwing dust, sand, and more debris into the air.

"I see a world that appeared out of nowhere and could represent one of the greatest scientific discoveries of our time," said Tarrant nervously as a meteorite soared right above their heads.

"An interesting observation," said the Master nodding. "But ultimately short-sighted. Imagine you weren't part of the Marine Space Agency and didn't care for its scientific value. What would you think of this world then?"

The sounds of rocket engines grew louder and louder as shadows began materializing and growing in shape.

"I-I don't know," said Tarrant using her free hand to briefly wipe her forehead of sweat as she shakily aimed the gun at the Master. "I-I probably wouldn't even care. It'd be an oddity, nothing more."

"Yes but even you would have to admit that a world in the middle of nowhere, far from any known conflict, would be perhaps the greatest piece of real estate the universe had ever seen since the Europeans discovered the Americas," the Time Lord observed. "This world is a goldmine waiting to be tapped and knowing what year it is and whose space is closest to this world made it a simple matter to figure out to whom this place would mean the most to. Which is why…"

Spaceships began descending from the golden sky as missiles and laser fire permeated the air between them while more flaming objects came down all around them.

"…We have the Sontarans," said the Master pointing to the ships on the left and then sweeping his arm to the right and pointed at another group of ships. "And the Rutan Hosts. Their war has ravaged countless star systems and even a galaxy or two. They need resources and they need worlds that aren't likely to offer any resistance to their rule. And they're not leaving until they are the only ones left standing on this world."

A third roar erupted from behind them and the Master and Tarrant turned to watch in confusion as a silver shaped ship also descended.

"Oh ho, ho, ho, ho," said the Master chuckling. "And it appears we've got a special guest at these proceedings. Commander Tarrant, meet the Cybermen, also strapped for resources no less. Well, now we have a party!"

Tarrant watched in horror as all three sides opened fire on each other and then at the ground, presumably at her crew. And through all the devastation, the Master began laughing maniacally, reveling in the destruction.

"What the hell is so funny!" shouted Tarrant over the roar as a stone building exploded down the street from them.

"Because my foolish friend," said the Master with glee. "It means I'm finally getting off this world for good and I'll do it over your bloodied and broken corpses!"

The Master continued laughing as hell rained down on Logopolis.


	4. Otheremus

Logopolis: A Sontaran battleship set down nearby as Commander Tarrant kept her gun aimed at the Master.

"You're not going anywhere!" she stated.

"Oh I think I am," said the Master with a self-assured grin. His eyes then narrowed.

"I am the Master and you will obey me," he insisted. "Now lower your weapon."

Tarrant arms began shaking as she tried to fight the mental suggestion.

"Lower it," said the Master. Tarrant was still fighting it as the gun slowly dropped from aiming right at him. Not wanting to waste time, the Master produced his Tissue Compression Eliminator and made an adjustment and aimed it at the weapon and fired. The barrel of the gun shrunk as the metal began groaning from the stress until it was virtually unrecognizable. As that happened, a stray missile took out the building they were standing next to causing a rockslide that separated the two individuals.

"Until next time!" said the Master waving through the dust before he spun around and ran off. Tarrant coughed on the air particles before pulling out her radio.

"Lieutenant Gorram!" she shouted as two missiles slammed straight into each other above her head nearly deafening her as a shockwave ripped out blowing out objects all around her and nearly flattening Tarrant to the ground.

"Yes Commander," came the panicky response.

"How's the ship!" Tarrant asked, getting back up and heading down one of the few undamaged streets that were left in the area.

"We've got some minor structural damage from falling buildings but the aggressors seem mainly focused on each other at the moment," said Gorram over the radio. Sonic blasts now began streaking along the sky.

"I need you to get to the radio transmitter and try and get our scientists out of here. If you can't do that then just leave," ordered Tarrant.

"But what about-," said Gorram.

"That's an order! Tarrant out!" shouted the Commander. More buildings exploded.

Elsewhere: The Doctor and Mel were not in any better shape as Commander Tarrant with buildings coming down left and right.

"It's like the War all over again," the Doctor noted. "And the second time I've been on Logopolis when it's falling apart."

"The more things change…," began Mel trying to make light of the situation.

"I just need to get out…less," said the Doctor thinking about that statement. "I think that's right…yeah…"

A glint of silver caught his eye and the Doctor grabbed Mel and spun both around to the side of a nearby building as the Doctor pulled out his Sonic Screwdriver and poked the head around the corner while the other end projected a holographic image of what it saw. A squad of Cybermen marched down the road paying attention to nothing but whatever mission they were apparently on.

"Oh I'd completely forgotten that our friends from Mondas were still cruising the galaxy," said the Doctor impressed. "It's actually kind of good to see them again after all these years. Cybus's had _no_ personality whatsoever."

"Doctor," said Mel insistent. "The place is kind of falling apart around us."

"Right," said the Doctor as the troop passed out of sight. "Let's go."

The two moved down the destroyed street.

"Umm, why exactly are we moving towards the destruction?" asked Mel curious. The Doctor nodded.

"Seeing as all three of these races are here I can use them to my advantage," he explained. "I need some of their equipment to help me find out more about this planet's creation. But first I need to find the Master, I'll need his help."

A Sontaran Fighter arced across the sky like a roman candle and plowed down the street in front of them.

"How do you even know where the Master is?" said Mel picking debris out of her hair. The Doctor used his sonic screwdriver to scan the Sontaran craft and then held up the device and nodded before putting it away.

"I know exactly where he is," said the Time Lord amused. "C'mon let's go, the Sontarans are this way."

Sontaran Landing Site: "Send Units 33 and 99 to back up our forces against the Rutan Hosts and when the mortars are set up use them to pound our silver nemeses," said Sontaran Leader Syke. Two squads of Sontaran troops marched out into the warzone while cluster missiles erupted into the air in the distance as the Rutan Hosts were pounding both sides.

"Sir!" said Field Marshall Lite saluting. "We have captured a non-combatant."

"Excellent," said Syke. "Let us go meet this individual so we might subvert him and his hidden people to our will."

The two walked across the stone filled ground to a mass of soldiers who promptly lined up and shoved the Master onto the ground in front of them.

"Thank you," said the Master feigning thankfulness as he stood up and brushed off his suit before grumbling. "Lousy brutes."

Sontaran Battle-Axes all aimed at his head as the Master looked at them unimpressed.

"Tell us where your people are hiding and we may show you mercy," said Syke. Lite chuckled at that as did the other soldiers but were silenced by a glance from Syke.

"I think you misunderstand," said the Master slowly pushing away the guns aimed at his head. "I am not a native of this world, I merely own it. And I am willing to sell it to you in exchange for passage off of this world."

Syke had to take a step back after hearing this.

"No, I think _you_ misunderstand," Syke growled. "We're taking this world regardless, we're only offering your people the opportunity to die or be mercifully enslaved by our people."

"Do you know who you're talking to?" demanded the Master. Lite tapped Syke on the shoulder and led him off for a moment. Syke then turned and looked at the Master shocked.

"Time Lord…," he said in disbelief. "You're a Time Lord. Well this changes a few things now doesn't it?"

The Master's took on a darker more malicious appearance with that revelation.

"Then you should know better than to deny me my requests," he stated. "Or the Time Lords will come down on you with their full might."

"You may think we Sontarans are no match for the Time Lords, but we know fully well how they are not around to be stopping anyone anymore," said Syke. "And if memory serves, The Doctor was the only survivor of that war. So you must be the Doctor!"

The Master's expression went into shock at that.

"I am not the Doctor, I am the Master!" shouted the Time Lord irate. "But the Doctor is on this world, I can lead you to him!"

Syke nodded.

"A likely story," he stated grabbing a hold of the Master. "You have a lot to answer for on account of your crimes against our war effort!"

But before he could hoist the Master into the air, yellow laser blasts tore up the area around them.

"Retreat!" shouted Syke. The Master flung his knee into the Sontaran's gut causing the alien to drop him and then took off into the city as shots ripped past. He was nearly out of their range when a blast hit the ground directly behind him flinging the Time Lord through the air and he hit the ground knocking the wind out of him. Looking around groggily, his eyes focused on a pair of white tennis shoes in front of him. Looking up, he saw brown pants followed by an equally brown coat and brown shirt before seeing the face of the Doctor standing over him.

"They say no?" asked the Doctor amused as he held the Laser Screwdriver. The Master growled as the Doctor helped him to his feet.

"Your reputation always seems to precede you," the Master grumbled.

"Yeah sorry about that," the Doctor apologized as he wiped some of the dust off of the Master's sleeves. "Now c'mon."

He headed for the Sontaran Ships.

"Doctor did you take a knock on the head back there?" inquired the Master reluctantly.

"What, scared?" the Doctor goaded.

"Hardly," said the Master taking offense. "But only a fool rushes to his death."

"Agreed," said the Doctor producing three lanyards with keys attached to them. He handed one to the master, one to Mel, and the third he took himself.

"Let's go," he said. "We should be sufficiently disguised now."

"Oh Doctor you gave me your key I'm so touched," said the Master dryly. The Doctor snorted at that statement.

"Don't be that touched, that's a key to _your_ TARDIS," he chuckled.

"_My_ TARDIS!" the Master roared.

"Yeah I stole it awhile back when you weren't looking," the Doctor admitted. "Come to think of it may have been on Logopolis when I did."

The two marched past the front line of Sontaran soldiers and kept walking.

"Umm, Doc?" said Mel nervously. The nearby Sontarans looked around as if they'd heard a noise but returned to their work.

"Yeah," said Doctor walking back to her.

"I'm not as scared as I used to be, but I don't think my going in there is such a good idea," said Melanie apologetically. "Is it possible I could do something else?"

As she said this, the Marine Ship lifted up into the air and took off for the radar dish under heavy fire from below.

"I'm betting Commander Tarrant isn't onboard that thing," said the Doctor. "Here take the laser screwdriver and this other key and go find her and take her to the TARDIS. We'll be there shortly."

The Doctor flipped the screwdriver with another key attached to Mel and she nodded and ran off into the battle. The Doctor then turned and saw a disapproving look on the Master's face.

"What?" he inquired as they set off again for the Sontaran ships.

"You just gave away our only long ranged weapon," stated the other Time Lord.

"Yes but it doesn't put up cabinets or open doors," the Doctor complained. "It's no good to me. Now c'mon, let's go shopping! I do love the little shops after all."

The Master just gave a disapproving shake of his head and the two advanced into the main Sontaran craft.

Elsewhere: Commander Tarrant was watching from behind a piece of fallen debris as orbs of light battled large headed aliens who in turn were fighting against what she assumed were robots. She'd heard the stories about the Dalek wars but had never seen much combat experience, but she was definitely getting it now. A shadow crossed over her head as her ship headed for the antenna and she whispered a silent prayer for her crew. The aliens were still going at it by this point and with the route behind her blocked, Tarrant had to try her best to get past them without being noticed. She was nearly past them when a grenade dropped from the hand of a dying big headed alien and rolled near her feet. Tarrant screamed, drawing the attention of the warring factions as she got to her feet and ran while the grenade exploded behind her throwing her into a nearby building, knocking the commander unconscious.

Sontaran Ship: The Doctor and the Master were raiding the storage lockers on the main ship for parts.

"Looting with the Doctor in the middle of a war zone onboard an enemy craft," said the Master wistfully. "Never thought I'd ever find myself in this situation."

"Life's just funny that way," responded the Doctor tossing another piece into the hovercart. The Master meanwhile was pocketing pieces here and there, to what purpose the Doctor didn't know, but he was willing to let the other Time Lord get away with a few things. After all he'd just failed in his initial escape attempt and the Doctor knew he wouldn't try again until this was all over.

"Tell me, does your current hairdryer currently give you the lift that you are so desperately seeking in life?" asked the Doctor with a grin as he hefted what looked like a massive cannon and tossed it to the Master.

"I wasn't aware the Sontarans had hair," said the Master pumping the device and aiming it at the Doctor. "Now Doctor, prepare to perspire to death!"

"How evil!" said the Doctor with mock terror. "I like my hair the way it is!"

The Master dropped the hair dryer onto the ground. "Yes, unkempt as always I see."

"Beats your consistently short hair," responded the other Time Lord dropping one last piece into the cart. "Though maybe I'll try out a goatee sometime. But not today, let's go. The Cybermen and Rutan Hosts await!"

The Doctor began pushing the cart out the door as the Master quickly shoved several more items into his suit and then followed him.

"Doctor what do you need all of this for?" inquired the Master. "None of it gives us a tactical advantage over the enemy."

"Of course it does," responded the other Time Lord pushing the cart down the ramp and onto the ground. "Knowledge is the ultimate power in the universe and I intend to use it to find out what's going on here."

"_Do_ you know what's going on here?" the Master had to know. The Doctor shrugged.

"I have an idea," he admitted. "But I won't know for sure until I get this stuff back to the radio telescope."

The two were pushing their cart past Syke who was yelling at his lieutenant.

"You will find the Time Lord and you will bring them back here!" shouted the Sontaran. "The Doctor is wearing a black suit and tie. Now go find him!"

The lieutenant nodded and ran off as the Doctor and the Master glanced at each other and in unison took off their keys. Behind the Sontaran, their images materialized out of thin air. The Doctor then tapped Syke on the shoulder.

"What?" he demanded before coming face to face with the Time Lord. "Who are you?"

"I'm actually the Doctor," said the Gallifreyan pointing to himself. "I just wanted you to know that for the records you're keeping against me."

The Sontaran growled and was about to reach for the Doctor when the Master stepped between them.

"The name is the Master!" shouted the Time Lord. "Remember it!"

With that he let loose with a punch that flung the Sontaran off of his feet and to the ground. The other Sontarans looked at the disturbance as the Doctor and the Master looked at them passively. The Doctor then gave a jaunty wave before he and the Master's images vanished. The soldiers opened fire but their bolts found nothing but empty space.

City: Mel was glad she'd stopped wearing a dress a long time ago because she'd have been killed long ago having to dodge all of these attacks and buildings that came crashing down all around her.

"Don't these idiots even realize there's not even going be a planet left when they're done here," Mel grumbled to no one in particular. But still the barrage continued unabated and took out the remains of the buildings that had already been demolished by earlier attacks. Still, she had to find Commander Tarrant and hope that she hadn't been killed in the fighting. Melanie was just getting underway again when the sound of footsteps was heard approaching her position. Mel squatted behind a piece of rubble before slowly poking her head above it as a squadron of Cybermen approached another Cyberman with grey 'handlebars'.

"CyberCommander," said one of the units. "We have captured a human whose marking indicate she is a ranking member of the human expedition to his world."

Mel saw Commander Tarrant slung over the shoulder of one of the Cybermen.

"Excellent," said the Cybercommander pleased. "Take her to the ship to be Cyberized so we might learn what she knows of this world."

"Confirmed," said the Cyber Patrol as they continued on their way. The Cybercommander pointed ahead and the Cyber Patrol he was with moved on oblivious to the destruction around them. Mel slowly got up and made her way through the devastation after them.

"Oh Doc, where are you?" she wondered worriedly.

Rutan Host Armada: The Doctor and the Master were now taking equipment from the second of the three warring factions.

"You know Doctor," the Master confessed as a trio of bright orbs raced past them. "I never understood how a species without a physical form could ever be a threat to anyone."

"You didn't have a physical body for a long time and I still considered you a threat," the Doctor pointed out.

"Well yes but I'm the Master you're supposed to expect such things," said the other Time Lord taking offense to being compared with these lowly beings. "But these…I don't know."

"If it's any consolation, they're no less ruthless than the Sontarans are," the Doctor stated as he took a strange look at a piece of technology before tossing it to the side. "That's why the Gallifreyans and to a lesser extent myself never really got involved with either as much as we did other species. I've only had dealings with the Sontarans because they've chosen to have dealings with me over the years."

"Does the same hold true with me?" asked the Master interested.

"Who knows," said the Doctor shutting the locker and giving it a once over with his screwdriver. "I don't choose the company I keep you remember when I said that."

The Master nodded as the Doctor once more pushed the cart outside. They passed by the Rutan Hosts that were swirling around outside.

"It always seems to come back to Logopolis doesn't it?" said the Master perplexed. "What is it about this world?"

"I doubt we'll ever know," said the Doctor as they passed right by a Host and stopped.

"I thought these things were amorphous blobs not spheres of light," the Master commented as he used his Tissue Compression Eliminator to scan the thing.

"By this point in the war they'd evolved," explained the former President Elect. "I mean they've been fighting since practically the start of creation for Rassilon's sake, it had to happen eventually."

"So if I touch one…," began the Master.

"You'd die," said the Doctor bluntly. "Now let's go, we need more from the Cybermen that we've had from these two and I want to get working as soon as possible."

The two set off again.

"Didn't you broker a peace between the two?" the Master tried to recall.

"That's right," the Doctor acknowledged nodding his head. "Lasted for a whole five minutes too as I recall. I actually got in the Guinness Book of Universal Records for it and then the committee was later destroyed by them...but you can't win them all. Case in point…"

The two then continued down the ruined city in silence.

Cyber Fleet: Melanie wasn't taking any chances as she darted amongst the debris below the Cyber Ships trying to avoid being spotted by any of the Cybermen littering the area. She still had her sight on Tarrant and when the Cybermen advanced into one of their craft, so too did she. The inside of the Cybermen Ship was a sight to behold as it was in stark contrast to the outside. The entire ship was completely sterile with glistening silver walls and floors. Mel just put this aside and advanced down the hallway while unknown to her, security cameras tracked her every move.

"Infiltrator," said one Cyberman to another on the bridge of the vessel. The image popped up of Mel wandering the corridors on their viewscreen.

"Why were we not aware of this when they first stepped onboard?" demanded the Cyberleader.

"Her image is being manipulated on a frequency not typically associated with most organics perceptions," answered the Cyberman.

"Where is she headed?" the Cyberleader asked.

"She is following a squadron towards the Cyberization Chamber," answered the Cyberman somewhat perplexed.

"Then do not impede her passage," the Cyberleader decreed. "She will arrive and then she too will be cyberized."

The Cyberman nodded and returned to their tasks when alarms began blaring all over the bridge.

"What now?" inquired the Cyberleader. An image popped up again showing a photo of Mel along with a similar photo of her younger self standing next to a man clad in white with a question mark sweater, white hat, and an umbrella shaped like a question mark. Two words repeatedly flickered above the image in tune with the alarm: THE DOCTOR.

"She is a companion of the Doctor!" shouted the Cyberman. Cybermen were not typically associated with emotions, but they displayed them on occasion and this was one of them.

"The Doctor," said the Cyberleader as a mountain of possibilities flooded through its cyberized brain. "I will be waiting for him in the cyberization chamber. Hold off both cyberizings until the Doctor arrives and when that happens, allow him into the ship. We will then lure him to the Cyberizing chamber and deal with him there."

The Cybermen nodded as the Cyberleader marched off as outside, the Doctor and the Master advanced towards the Cyber ship.


	5. Pallidarius

Cyber Fleet: The Doctor and the Master were out walking amongst the various Cybermen.

"The Sontarans I can understand not being able to see us, the Rutan Hosts to a lesser extent, but the Cybermen…," said the Master looking at the blank stares of the robotic men.

"Of course they can't see us," the Doctor said self-assuredly. "These keys make us invisible to everything."

"_I_ saw you," said the Master doubtful.

"You're a Time Lord you disaster geek," said the Doctor. The Master's brows furled at that.

"Geek?" he inquired confused.

"Martha said it means 'obsessively enthusiastic about it'," explained the Doctor. The Master thought about it.

"I don't think you're using that word in the right context," he responded.

"You sure?" the Doctor responded as he pushed the cart up the ramp towards the ship.

"Pretty sure," the Master affirmed. "Incidentally about Earth, have you ever heard of a new species they created called…The Teletubbies? They have televisions in their stomachs."

"Hmm," the Doctor mused. "That does sound like something a human would create. Like that talking frog. What was his name…Kermit…?"

The two ventured further into the ship.

Cyberization Chamber: Commander Tarrant's limp body was placed inside the Cyberization chamber as Mel watched from just outside the room. She then quickly stepped to the side as the Cyberleader stepped past her and into the room.

"Report on the subject," stated the Leader.

"The subject is still unconscious," responded the nearest Cyberman.

"Then we must wait until she is conscious before we can begin the procedure," said the Cyberleader standing straight up as if in sleep mode while the rest did the same. Mel looked at this strangely as she took out the laser screwdriver.

"Oh Doc how does this work?" Mel complained helplessly as she began pressing random buttons. Finally the laser shot out the end as Mel squeaked briefly, dropping the thing as it left a smoking crater in the side wall.

Storage Area: "You hear something?" asked the Doctor sorting through the equipment.

"I don't think so," said the Master also taking things for his own collection. "May have just been a Cyberman who was a little low in the oil department."

The Doctor returned to his work.

"Doctor…," began the Master seriously as he produced the Journal. "Why am I not mentioned in this? You seemed to have written about everything else in here but not me."

"You are in there," the Doctor promised not looking at him.

"No I am not," the Master said. "I've looked through the entire text and found nothing. You listed nearly every enemy in here but me. Why?"

"Foreward," said the Doctor annoyed. The Master was confused by this request.

"There's only a wall," the Time Lord said pointing at it. The Doctor shook his head in annoyance.

"You always are interested in the big picture, never the nitty gritty details," the Doctor remarked. "The foreward, read the foreward."

The Master immediately flipped the book to just beyond the title of the journal and read it.

"Well," the Master responded finally. "It's a good thing I did take this journal. If word like this got out it would ruin my reputation as a villain."

With that he tore the page out of the book and the Doctor sighed sadly. But a small reflection off one of the cabinets showed a blurry image of the Master, who took one last look at the page and with a possible mild tinge of sadness meticulously folded it and placed it into his inner pocket before taking out another sheet of paper and shredding it.

"Think about _that_ Doctor," said the Master darkly, not aware the other Time Lord had seen him. The Doctor's mouth briefly curved upwards before he returned to his work.

"Well it doesn't matter," said the Doctor playing along. "Because I forgive you regardless."

That drove the Master over the edge as he threw up his hands in anger.

"I don't need your forgiveness!" he shouted irate. The Doctor paused at that.

"Well you don't have a choice because it doesn't matter. Everything you've done, all the madness, all the insanity, all these disasters, I will always forgive you for all of them," he said sadly. "Even for what happened here on Logopolis. Despite all the people who died as a result of the entropy I forgive you for that too. And on this planet I saw you do something good for the first time in a long time and that's what gives me hope that you will do so again while we're doing this. I know you heard me back on that airfield I'm not here to kill you, I'm here to save you."

The Master stewed at this.

"I guess what I'm trying to say, that I don't think I say often enough, is-," began the Doctor when a scream interrupted them both. The Doctor quickly threw the remaining objects into the cart and shoved it out the door.

"That sounded like Mel, c'mon!" shouted the Doctor. The Master ran out the door after him.

Cyberization Chamber: Three Cybermen were dead on the floor but the remainder was hauling Mel into the converter chamber after having overwhelmed her of the screwdriver.

"You will be converted to a Cyberman and you will tell us the secrets of the TARDIS," responded the Cyberleader.

"I'll tell you nothing!" Mel shouted.

"You won't have a choice," the Leader gloated as the Master and the Doctor skidded to a halt outside the chamber.

"What do we do?" asked the Master.

"Well we won't do your first plan and just leave them both to be cyberized," responded the Doctor curtly. "I'll go shut off the chamber you go free them."

The Master nodded as he and the Doctor headed off in opposite directions. The Cybermen were intent on securing Mel into the chamber but once the Doctor had reached the controls, they all turned to face him and the Cyberleader gripped the Doctor by the throat and hoisted him up into the air.

"Did you think that such a foolish trick would possibly get past the Cybermen?" demanded the Leader pushing him up the wall.

"You…you found out," said the Doctor shocked. The Master just looked at him shocked, the Cybermen were completely ignoring him. The Doctor jerked his body right to indicate the Master should keep moving and he nodded and scooted off.

"So what are you going to do to me?" asked the Doctor fearful.

"We are going to separate your brain from your body and then hook it up to our computers to forcibly download all of your knowledge," stated the Leader as the Master kept moving. "And then we will hang it as a trophy to our ultimate victory over your meddling."

The Doctor now began jerking downwards as if trying to escape but couldn't escape the Leader's iron grip. The Master looked at him curiously before his eyes fell on the ground and he nodded in approval. The Master disappeared from sight from behind the Leader.

"M-may I just say two things," said the Doctor as his eyes threatened to break out into tears.

"What?" demanded the Cyberleader making them be face to face. The Doctor's expression immediately went from terrified to with a look of malice on his face.

"One: I've been on to you from the start. I knew you would be able to see through our camouflage and in fact I counted on it," the Doctor said. "And two: You forget the most important rule about keeping your friends close and your enemies closer."

The Cybermen spun around to see the Master holding up the laser screwdriver and his tissue compression eliminator at them.

"Halt!" said the Cyberleader not turning to face him. "We are willing to cut a deal with you for the Doctor."

"Oh that's tempting," said the Master humbly before his expression darkened. "But you already betrayed me once on Gallifrey. No second chances, I'm that sort of a man."

The Master began firing left and right at the Cybermen who returned fire. The Cyberleader meanwhile returned his attention to the Doctor only to find a sonic screwdriver aimed at his head.

"Now you will be deleted!" spat the Doctor as the screwdriver went off in a blinding flash of light causing all the Cybermen to drop down in a hail of sparks. The Master quickly freed Mel and Tarrant as more Cybermen flooded the entrance all aiming their weapons at the group along with a new Cyberleader.

"You have accomplished little Doctor," said the new Leader. "And now you shall die."

"Oh I don't think so," the Doctor swore. The Stattenheim Remote Control once more appeared in his hand as the Doctor whistled loudly. The cranking sound of the TARDIS could be heard materializing around them as the Cybermen opened fire. But their blasts harmlessly bounced off the fully materialized TARDIS as it vanished once more leaving the room empty.

"All too easy," the Doctor commented as he adjusted some controls on his console. But as he did, the barrel of the laser screwdriver touched the back of his neck. The Doctor meanwhile ignored it and continued with his work.

"You may as well put that away, we both know you won't use it," the Doctor remarked. The barrel didn't move.

"And what makes you say that?" the Master asked from behind him.

"Because we both want to know what's really going on here," the Doctor responded calmly. The barrel dropped from his neck and the Doctor turned around and rested against the console. He held out his hand the Master reluctantly put the screwdriver back in his hand.

"All the same, thank you," said the Time Lord grateful. "It was like old times."

"_Very_ old times," the Master added. "I was a different man then."

"Not that different," the Doctor disagreed with a light shake of his head. But before he could say any more, groans came from Mel and Commander Tarrant and the Doctor walked over to help them as the Master took over the controls.

"Thanks to your bravery Mel I'm not having to face down CyberMel and CyberTarrant right now," said the Doctor with a slight grin as he helped the two to their feet.

"Oi, I'm just glad to be out of there," said Mel holding her head. "Feel like I've been injected by something."

"Must've been from a Cybermat, it'll clear up in a little bit," the Doctor explained.

"Did you get what you need?" asked the former companion hopeful. The Doctor nodded and waved at the cart.

"Pretty much," he assessed.

"My crew," said Tarrant holding her head as well. "Where are they?"

"Master?" asked the Doctor. The Master looked at the viewscreen.

"Holding orbit above the planet," he answered.

"And where are we going?" asked Tarrant opening her eyes and wincing from the bright light.

"The transceiver," said the Doctor. "I can always take you to your ship first though if you want."

"No, I need to know what's going on here as soon as possible," answered Tarrant sitting down in a heap. The Doctor looked up at the central vortex as the sound of the TARDIS dematerializing could be heard. He and the Master immediately headed for the doors leaving the others behind to get their bearings. The two shoved the hovercart out into the Central Register Control Room and the Doctor immediately began sorting the various pieces.

"Now do you understand why I needed to get all of this stuff?" asked the Doctor. The Master took a glance over it all before he nodded.

"But if this is what I think it is…," he began.

"Then neither of us is going to like it," the Doctor finished. "So let's find out now rather than later."

The Master nodded as both went to work with the sounds of destruction still being heard outside from the various warring factions. But unknown to them both, a small monitoring device lay on a nearby desk.

"Empress, they've begun work on the transceiver," said one of the covert unit members who had spied on the two Time Lords earlier.

"Oh you always were too smart for your own good Doctor," the voice on the other end of the line seethed.

"Permission to engage," came the voice of the second unit member.

"Denied," said the Empress. "You saw them out there on that battlefield. If the Sontarans, Rutan Hosts, and Cybermen couldn't stop them then how do you think you two will fare? No, just wait. The bait has already been set; their curiosity will make them come to us. Until then continue to monitor and observe."

"Roger," came the disconcerted response.

Later: "So what do you think?" asked the Doctor sitting on a desk next to the Master who was reviewing the information they had obtained after hooking up the various pieces of alien equipment to the Logopolitan machines.

"I think its taking all my self-control not to tear up this page," the Master admitted as he gripped the paper forcibly and tugged it left and right. The Doctor nodded sympathetically. As the two sat there thinking about the results in silence, Mel and Tarrant exited the TARDIS. Mel walked towards the two Time Lords as Tarrant turned around and looked at the police box before jumping in surprise.

"Wow," she said running her hands over it. But she quickly snapped herself out of her reverie.

"So what'd you two find out?" asked Mel scratching the back of her head while yawning. The Doctor held up a piece of printed paper.

"Do you recognize this?" he asked. Mel looked at it.

"Yeah it's the telemetry I pulled from the telescope earlier," she stated. Tarrant also came and looked at it.

"Do you notice anything odd about it?" asked the Doctor calmly. Mel looked it over.

"Well it's not recorded anything," she deduced. "But there's nothing strange about since there aren't any stars in the sky."

"But what about our friends out there?" asked the Doctor pointing to the exit as an explosion rang out. "Are they are on there? Their ships were clearly on approach when that image was taken so they must be."

Mel's looked at the results again.

"No," she agreed. "But they could've been…"

"They weren't jamming us," the Doctor interceded. "We heard plenty of radio communications between the various units while we looted the ships. If there was jamming it wouldn't be going on."

"Is the receiver broken?" Tarrant wondered. The Doctor nodded.

"That's what I thought at first so I gathered all of this equipment out there and hooked it up to the Logopolitan equipment and scanned again," the Doctor explained. He nudged the Master who reluctantly handed over the stressed paper to the two women. "And that's what came back.

The paper was completely blank once more.

"This isn't possible," said Tarrant at a loss as she began to feel a little light-headed.

"But…but…what does it mean?" asked Mel helpless. Either she couldn't make the connections or was afraid to.

"It means my dear that the transmitter is a sham," said the Master dripping with anger. "It has physical form and structure but it cannot do anything. Neither can anything in this room. All of this equipment with the exception of this one computer is worthless. They cannot perform any functions they just exist to complete the image that this room could do something. But it can't, it never could."

"But the button that…," began Mel.

"A simple device to raise and lower a transmitter is cheap and easy to install," the Doctor disagreed. "Besides, what was that transmitter doing underground anyway? There was no indication to us when we were last here that it could hide underneath the surface. It only was doing so now to try and convince us that this world was real. But it's also a fake. This world is an illusion. A convincing one, it duped those fighting out there, but once you look below the surface you can see it for what it really is. Master?"

The Master grabbed a big rock chunk that had fallen from the ceiling and held it up.

"And no I'm not that strong," the Master added. The Doctor reared back his fist and punched the rock as it exploded into a fine powder.

"I guarantee you that what the Cybermen, Sontarans, and Rutan Hosts came for, they're not going to find it here," said the Doctor sitting back.

"Damn," said the first unit member listening on this. "They are as smart as the Empress claimed."

The both members held their ears in pain as a loud squeal erupted over their radios.

"Cyber-leader to base-," came a voice. The one member hit the other.

"Change frequencies!" shouted the member. The other quickly did so but not before the Master's Tissue Compression Eliminator beeped. He took out the device and looked around. The Doctor shot him a glance but the Master waved to him to keep going on like nothing had changed as he got up and searched the room.

"So who made this illusion and for what purpose?" asked Tarrant confused.

"I don't know," the Doctor answered truthfully. "Up to here it's been only a small amount of guesswork and simple deduction. But now…I don't know. But whoever did this put a lot of time and effort into making this illusion and they must have had a very good reason to. The stuff to do this doesn't come cheap."

The Master finally located the disturbance and carefully held up the transmitter device. He held up his Tissue Compression Eliminator and wiggled it in his hand as the Doctor nodded and casually flipped him the Sonic Screwdriver.

"Do you know who would do such a thing?" asked Tarrant.

"Yeah," the Doctor admitted before pointing forward with his index finger. "Him. But I'm pretty sure _he_ didn't do it. But until I get more information I've got nothing."

"Are you sure it wasn't him?" Mel whispered. The Doctor shrugged.

"Mel for all I know _I_ did this," the Doctor pointed out. The Master was now scanning the device with the screwdriver and looked at the screwdriver as if discerning some readings and then looked at the Doctor who glanced back at him. The Master stuck out his thumb and pinky finger to make a shape similar to a phone and then began tapping a rhythm on the table similar to one the Doctor had heard at their earlier encounter. The Doctor nodded solemnly and leaned forward.

"I don't suppose either of you has a cellphone on you, do you?" he asked hopeful. Tarrant began laughing.

"Oh Doctor, no one has a cellphone in this day and age. They haven't existed for…," began Tarrant as Mel fished hers out of her coat pocket and handed it to him.

"Rock and Roll," said the Doctor as Tarrant looked at the thing in shock. The Doctor meanwhile was intently focused on the device as he held up his right hand and without looking closed his fingers around the Sonic Screwdriver that flew into it. The Doctor looked at the Screwdriver and then used it on the phone. The Master meanwhile altered the listening device and held it up in varying directions where it beeped at various paces accordingly. The Doctor was nearly done with the device when he produced two pairs of earplugs.

"You're going to want to put these in," he advised handing them to the two women.

"Why?" Tarrant asked confused.

"Because otherwise the Master will have a control over you that not even I will be able to break without some difficulty," the Doctor responded. That was all the motivation the two humans needed as they popped in the plugs and the Doctor snapped the phone open. He motioned for the two companions to stay there as he followed the Master outside who was using the tracking device to root out their unseen listeners.

Outside: The two covert agents were on their rocky perch about the entrance to the Central Register when the Doctor and the Master found them. The two looked up at the Time Lords in a mild daze.

"Who are you?" said the Doctor. The two looked lazily at each other.

"We're the waiting ones," the response came.

"Waiting for what?" said the Master.

"Waiting for you," said the operatives.

"Why?" came the Doctor's next question.

"The Empress decreed it,"

"Who is the-"

"Units 7 and 8 report," came a female voice over the radio they were holding. One of the operatives lazily reached for it before the Master snatched it away from him and handed it to the Doctor.

"Hello?" said the Time Lord speaking into the thing before he can began shaking it and hitting it against his hand. "Hello?"

"Who is this?" came the angry voice on the other end.

"Oh I should think it's fairly obvious," said the Doctor humbly. "The real question is who are you?"

"What have you done with my men?" the voice continued irate. The Doctor sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose tired. He offered the radio to the Master who waved his hands not wanting it.

"They're safe," said the Time Lord once more returning to the voice. "We'll return them to you when we're done with them Empress. Just rest assured that they will not be harmed."

Silence filled the radio at that.

"Units 7 and 8?" the woman asked.

"Yes?" came their hazy response.

"You have fulfilled your mission well and we all salute your effort," said the woman. "Now you can go with peace into the world beyond. Terminate."

The Doctor realized what was going on too late as the two operatives seized up and went into convulsions. The Time Lord rushed to feel their pulses but came up empty. He then whirled around angrily and faced the Master who was standing their uncaring.

"You knew this would happen!" he accused. The Master laughed.

"Of course I did," he said condescendingly. "It was obvious from the start that they were expendable and once they became a liability risk they'd be let loose."

"You should've said something!" the Doctor protested. The Master just gave him a look of pity.

"If I knew, you knew," he pointed out. "You should've done something and not relied on me to fight your battles for you. I won't do it. So…you're my guilty than I am for this."

"What on Gallifrey does that-," began the Doctor.

"I don't care," the Master stated. "I don't care about these people or your hurt feelings or much about any of this. I only care that someone is out there laying an intricate trap for us and I refuse to be led willingly into it. I am going to find who is responsible, this Empress person perhaps, and I am going to kill them. That is all that matters right now."

The two stood looking at each other.

"Deal with it," said the Master refusing to back down.

"This isn't over," said the Doctor pointing at him before picking up the radio. "Hello Empress, are you still there because I want you to attend carefully. People have died and you are responsible for their deaths. Normally I give you a warning before things like this happen but I haven't had much of a chance to talk to you. But you seem to already know who I am so listen up. If you don't reveal who you are and why you're doing this, and promptly stop your actions you will regret it of that I can promise you."

"Oh so you'll cry for two men but not for the countless number of innocents who perished when the entropy occurred?" came the voice mockingly. "You are pathetic Doctor and I will have my revenge. You and the Master will die…perhaps sooner than you both think."

A beeping sound was heard emanating from the radio as the Doctor and the Master quickly took out their screwdriver and compression eliminator respectively and aimed it at the device as an explosion tore through the area.

"Doc!" shouted Mel as she and Tarrant bounded up the stairs and towards the smoke and debris as above them, fires raged across the right trellis holding the antenna up. Soon the sound of groaning metal could be heard and Mel and Tarrant dropped to the ground as the entire unit came crashing down throwing up sand and dust everywhere. The two began coughing heavily as more debris came down around them and then one large piece in particular hurtled towards them. The two screamed trying to move to avoid it, but the piece was too large and they were too weak from the fumes, and then a yellow laser bolt ripped through the air blowing it to pieces. As Mel and Commander Tarrant looked up, the Doctor and the Master strode through the falling ash each with a look that would send shivers down even the most hardened criminal. The two strode past the two companions like they weren't even there, headed for the Central Register. Mel and Tarrant looked at each other through the dust and slowly forced themselves to their feet and stumbled after the Time Lords. When they reached the stairwell, the dust became less severe and they managed to race down the steps after the two fleeting images. Emerging, in the Central Registry, the Time Lords were nowhere to be seen as the light on top of the TARDIS began blinking on and off as the cranking sound could be heard.

"Quick before they-!" began Mel.

But it was too late, the TARDIS was gone.


	6. Operandi

Logopolis: Commander Tarrant's ship, the _Data Tracker_, hung in geosynchronous orbit above the main city as explosions still blossomed from the surface that were visible even in space. A small shuttlecraft rose from the surface and approached the vessel before landing in the main bay. Mel and Commander Tarrant exited the ship and strode across the bay where they were greeted by Lieutenant Commander Gorram.

"We're glad to see you're still with us Commander," said Gorram saluting as Tarrant nodded and the trio moved into a nearby turbolift.

"Bridge," stated the Commander as the thing took off. "Any reports from Central Command about why we weren't notified about the invasion?"

Gorram shook his head. "We haven't been able to raise Central since even before the fighting began."

That was news to Mel and Commander Tarrant as they looked at him.

"But there's no jamming field in place that we could detect," said Mel remembering what the Doctor had said before he vanished.

"That's-wait who is this?" asked Gorram just now noticing the strange woman.

"Oh this is Operative Melanie Bush, she's our counterpart from Fleet Intelligence and she got here just before we did," explained Commander Tarrant quickly thinking up a convincing cover story.

"Oh," said Gorram unsure. "Okay then."

"I'm sorry but her presence on this mission was to be classified until we arrived and then we had this whole mess with the invaders and I never got a chance to fill you in," explained Tarrant, still a little shaken by the whirlwind of events that had occurred down on Logopolis.

"Yes it is raining cats and dogs down there," the first officer agreed as the doors whooshed open revealing the bridge of the ship.

"Captain on deck!" shouted the deck officer. The other crewmen turned and glanced at the Commander briefly and then gave a strange look at Mel before returning to their work.

"Staff meeting fifteen minutes," stated the Commander before she motioned for Mel to follow her and headed for her ready room. The two entered into the room and Tarrant headed for the foodmat.

"Anything?" she asked calmly.

"Just water," said Mel taking a seat on one side of the captain's table. Tarrant entered their selections and the drinks appeared and she handed Mel the water before sitting down on the other side and holding her head in her hands.

"Don't be mad with the Doc, he just gets a little…single minded at times," Melanie apologized. "And it seems to get worse when the Master is around for some reason."

"Who are they really?" asked Tarrant desperately needing to know. Mel gave a lopsided smile.

"I don't know," she answered honestly. "They're Time Lords, they're enemies, they're more than Time Lords, they're best friends. I don't think we'll ever know and I don't think it matters at this point. We just need to know what's going on here is all."

"I agree completely," said Tarrant glad she and Mel were both on the same page. The Commander took her aspirin and then steepled her hands in front of her face. "Do you know what happened here on Logopolis when those two last came to visit?"

"I don't know the specifics but I do know that something they did on Logopolis wiped out this entire portion of the universe," said Mel as she shivered at that prospect. Tarrant nodded, also disturbed.

"What little information we've gathered from the civilizations that were both space-faring or nearest to the end of the starfield all refer to it as Judgment Day. The day the heavens opened up and flames descended upon the unworthy," Tarrant quoted. "Rumor has it that the intelligence people have calculated various points where they go and witness the light from the flames for their records."

"Entropy," Mel surmised. "But how you could have entropy before the death of the universe I don't know."

"I don't either and that's why we need those two Time Lords to fill in the missing holes," said Tarrant frustrated. "But we don't so we'll just have to make do."

"So what do we know?" began Mel. "Because we know that someone artificially created this world. Probably as a trap to lure in the Doctor and the Master since I'm going to assume neither is involved with this."

"And I'm willing to bet they didn't pick this world out of the blue. It has to have some sort of significance to them," Tarrant figured. Mel nodded.

"But I bet it's more than that. I think the Doctor mentioned something about the universe ending," Mel recalled softly. Tarrant looked at her with a thin veil of fear.

"You think the entropy could return?" she asked.

"It's at least a possibility we have to consider," suggested the other woman. Tarrant considered this.

"You think the entropy was artificially created?" asked the Commander. Mel shrugged.

"I don't know all I know is that it happened and what happened once can happen again," Mel promised. "The Doctor told me that once."

"The Doctor…," Tarrant growled before becoming calmer. "Alright let's go, we've got a staff meeting to attend."

The two left the room.

The Time Corridor: The TARDIS rocketed down the time stream headed for parts unknown. Inside the spare console room, the Doctor sat with his legs resting on the edge of the old console while the Master sat on a nearby chair assembling some unknown device from the parts he'd stolen earlier while using a floating casket as a workbench. Normally he would've done this work in secret but he was so frustrated with what had just happened that he needed to cool down and this was his plan to do it.

"Do you have any idea just what it is you're using a workbench?" asked the Doctor looking over at him. The Master looked at the casket before returning to his work.

"No," he responded not really caring. The Doctor just rested his head against the console in defeat.

"It's the Hand of Omega," he stated. The Master looked down at the casket in disbelief.

"You keep something like this just lying around?" he asked incredulously.

"It's not like anyone I know has reason to venture outside the main console room," the Doctor said.

"But this is a stellar manipulator!" continued the Master.

"Yeah you're right," said the Doctor as if the lightbulb turned on in his head. "What was I thinking, that thing was created to be the ultimate in construction equipment and you're using it to construct things. I should've just kept my mouth shut."

"Where are we going?" asked the Master putting away his work and wanting to switch to another subject.

"Where we went after Logopolis fell apart and the universe was about to die," answered the Doctor cryptically.

"Why?" asked the Master turning around in his chair and facing him. The Doctor was now tapping his Sonic Screwdriver against the spare console to try and calm his nerves.

"Because I need to tap into the CVEs and find out who has hacked them," explained the Time Lord curtly. The Master was now tapping his Tissue Compression Eliminator against the Hand of Omega.

"Peoples of the Universe, please attend carefully. The message that follows is vital to the future of you all. The choice for you all is simple; a continued existence under my guidance or total annihilation," quoted the Doctor. The Master looked up at him at that.

"Oh you may want to blame me for this mess Doctor but you're just as responsible for what happened on Logopolis as I am," the Master declared. "Besides, how many civilizations have you destroyed on your own, how many worlds? Skaro, Gallifrey, our people, the Daleks, how many more? The truth my dear Doctor is that you and I are the same. Oh sure we may act differently and go about things in different manners but when it boils down to it, there's nothing I've done that you haven't done at one point in your life or another."

The two Time Lords looked at each other.

"I'm the Doctor. And if you don't like it, if you want to take it to a higher authority there isn't one. It stops with me," said the Master with a quote of his own. The two continued looking at each other when a chime went off indicating that they were soon to arrive at their destination. Leaning over, the Doctor flipped a switch and the sound of the TARDIS dematerializing could be heard. He then returned to look at the Master before both stood up.

"Let's go," said the Doctor.

They left.

Logopolis: The senior staff of the _Data Tracker_ was in the conference room discussing recent events.

"In short, the core samples we managed to take of the planet reveal a world completely devoid of any usable minerals," said the science officer Scott Jefferson as he held a plastic tub with dirt in it.

"Analysis?" asked Tarrant not willing to let on that she and Mel already knew the truth.

"This world is either the worst possible planet for any species to settle on or it's an artificial world," Jefferson figured. "Given that it just recently appeared from out of nowhere I'm willing to bet the latter."

"So if we find out who built this world we might able to trace who commissioned it," Mel reasoned. Jefferson nodded reluctantly.

"Yes but the only people I know who could have done this would be the Magratheans," he answered. "But since the transcomm's not working it'd take us awhile to reach Soulianas and Rahm with the ship and even then they might not tell us."

"Speaking of the transcomm, are you getting any further leeway on why you can't receive any signals?" asked Tarrant of her chief engineer. The engineer shook her head.

"We can scan space, we can send messages, it's just we just can't receive them. The transceiver is physically fine so I don't know what's up," said Engineer LeGray.

"If it's alright with you I might take a look at it," Mel offered. "As part of an earlier undercover job I posed as chief engineer on a raggedy vessel called the _Nosferatu II_ so I have some experience in the area."

"Be my guest," said LeGray wanting to not be rude but was still doubtful she could figure out what was up.

"Okay you said the scanners are still working so I want you searching the cosmos for anything else unusual," Tarrant ordered. "I think something larger is going on here and I want to know what it is before it finds us. Anything else?"

The rest of the staff shook their heads.

"Alright dismissed," said Tarrant getting up. The staff broke with Mel following LeGray as Tarrant went to the window and looked out at the cosmos.

"_Where are you Doctor_?" she wondered.

Earth: The TARDIS dematerialized in a room filled with monitoring equipment that was all covered in plastic as dust swirled the room. The door opened and the Doctor slowly walked out into the control room of what had once been the Pharos Project. The Master also exited the TARDIS and looked around at the place.

"Ah sweet memories," said the Master with a big smile. The Doctor snorted at that.

"Yes, I suppose everyone loves hanging at the end of their rope," he retorted.

"Say, how about we try it again and see if this regeneration holds on longer than number 4!" said the Master excited.

"I'm going to have to reluctantly back out," said the Doctor yanking off one of the slipcovers and activating the old device. The Master ripped off another one and soon both were waiting for the computers to boot up.

"So why are we not actually going to a CVE and hack it on site?" asked the Master. The Doctor twirled his Screwdriver in his hand as he wondered how to answer that question.

"There are quite a few reasons. The first is that we could accidentally get swept into another dimension like E-Space. The second is that since our people are gone, it would be nearly impossible to get back and believe me I know. The third is that I don't like going to alternate dimensions. The fourth and final being I'd rather not risk damaging the CVE. We did enough damage on Logopolis without even touching one and I'd rather not chance it," said the Doctor as the computers finally powered up. The Doctor and the Master began accessing various screens.

"Okay let's make this quick because the local police are going to be onto us when this radar dish starts moving," explained the Time Lord apologetically.

"Fantastic," said the Master nonplussed. The two continued inputting the same data they had all those years ago as the dish began moving.

_The Data Tracker_: Commander Tarrant was in her office debating whether or not to finally take a sonic shower and get some rest when her door chimed.

"Enter," she said sitting once more at attention and filing some paperwork. The doors opened to reveal Mel, LeGray, and Jefferson.

"You fixed the transcomm?" she asked hopeful. Mel shook her head.

"It's like LeGray said, the thing is functioning perfectly, we just can't receive any signals from the Space Corp," Mel answered.

"So then what's up?" asked Tarrant confused. "I doubt I needed three of you here to tell me that."

"Ms. Bush was able to boost our sensor range and we found something rather interesting," Jefferson said as he took out a sensor printout and placed it on her desk. Tarrant eyed it doubtfully before picking it up and looking at it.

"Wait," she said doing a double-take. "Is this what I think it is?"

Earth: "There's another planet," the Doctor whispered in as he began hitting more buttons on his console. In the distance, the wail of police sirens could be heard.

"What?" said the Master approaching his console and looking at the readout.

"There's another world out there besides Logopolis," the Doctor repeated as he pointed to the viewscreen indicating two dots amongst the vast blackness of the entropy area.

"Where is it?" demanded the Master. The Doctor pressed a couple of more buttons and the galactic coordinates popped up.

"17.346.9981," said the Doctor as he did some number crunching in his head. He reached the answer at the same time the Master did.

"No," they both said in unison.

Logopolis: "Do we know the name of this planet?" asked Tarrant looking at the two worlds on the screen.

"Actually we do," said Jefferson somewhat surprised. "It was the capital planet of a collection of systems called the Traken Union. This is the Metulla Orionsis System home of Traken."

"And how do we know this?" asked Tarrant.

"Because whatever happened out here, some of the members of the Union were far away from it and their records were eventually recovered from an archaeological expedition a few years back," explained Jefferson as he produced a record tape and also laid it on the desk.

"Any Trakens still alive?" asked the Commander hopeful. Jefferson solemnly shook his head.

"No," he said sadly. "The Trakens were completely wiped out along with whatever destroyed this portion of the universe."

"That's too bad," said Tarrant. "Scott is there any reason we need to still stick around here?"

Jefferson shook his head. "Not for right now. We can always come back later but I think Traken may prove more useful at the moment for finding out what happened here. Besides, maybe the war down there will have calmed down by then."

Tarrant nodded her mind made up. "Then we're going. LeGray I want your best possible speed. See if Ms. Bush can't help you there as well."

The group nodded and exited and soon the ship was on its way to Traken.

Earth: "When I get my hands on her I'm going to-," began the Master angrily storming around the room before he roared at the heavens in frustration.

"We don't know it's her!" said the Doctor trying to calm him down as he began printing out the readout while the siren sounds was heard surrounding the radar.

"Oh it is her. You remember how mad she was when we agreed to join forces on Logopolis. Whining about how I killed her father and all that nonsense," the Master rebuked. "Her people were wiped out in the ensuing entropic effect, the pieces are all there. You just don't want to admit it."

"I'll admit that we'll know more when we get there," said the Doctor tearing off the printout as police officers could be heard racing up the outside stairwells. He headed for the TARDIS as the Master took one last longing look at the window.

"Last chance," he offered looking at the exterior control panel and still hanging cable.

"Not now," said the Doctor refusing. The two entered into the TARDIS as it vanished from sight while the officers burst into the room guns drawn.

Traken: _The Data Tracker_ entered into orbit of the world after a three-day trek across the stars from Logopolis. In the shuttlebay, Commander Tarrant and Mel stood with the senior staff.

"I realize this is against SOP, but I don't want a repeat of what happened on Logopolis," Tarrant explained. "Mel and I are going down alone for now. We're going to do some investigating and in time we'll let some of you come down after us. Until then, monitor the skies because I know it's only a matter of time before those we left behind discover this world and make a grab for it as well."

The crew nodded as Tarrant and Mel boarded the craft and set out for the planet below.

Surface: A woman was cleaning up inside of an indoor Grove when a cranking noise was heard. The female watched in awe as an earthly blue police box materialized from out of thin air. The doors opened and a man in a long brown coat and another in an all black suit exited the box.

"Oh," said the Master shivering despite himself. "It is true. We are back on Traken."

"Yeah I'm not any happier about this than you are," said the Doctor also a little unsettled by being back on this world. Then both their eyes fell on a humanoid statue with flowers at its feet.

"Rassilon," said the Master in awe as the Doctor just looked at the statue remembering when his fellow Time Lord had used it to sow disarray and disaster amongst the Traken people just prior to its untimely destruction by the entropy. The Master shakily reached out to touch the statue and his hand stilled when pressed against the cold stone face.

"You know in all my travels this was the only thing I regret not being able to take with me," the Master admitted. "And that means a lot coming from me I don't take trophies like you."

"I didn't know it was a real statue, I always assumed it was your former TARDIS," said the Doctor, ignoring the last part of the Master's comment.

"Hello," said a timid voice from behind them. "Have you come to pay your respects to Melkur?"

The Doctor and the Master turned around and found themselves face to face with a woman from the past.

"Kassia?" asked the Master before the Doctor slapped him on the chest with the back of his hand causing the other Time Lord to realize his mistake too late.

"Why…yes," said Kassia a little surprised. "How do you know me, I don't know you."

"Oh I wouldn't say that," said the Master softly before the Doctor cut in before this day got any more bizarre.

"We're travelers and we made sure to be vested in all knowledge Traken including the names of the Council members," explained the Time Lord.

"Oh," said Kassia very much pleased and relieved. "Then if you don't mind my asking, are you from Gallifrey? I only ask because your craft appears to be a TARDIS, although unusually disguised…"

"Yes we're both Time Lords," said the Doctor trying to produce a disarming grin as the Master began moving his hands all over the statue before frowning.

"Damn," he said disappointed. It wasn't his TARDIS, just a statue.

"Believe it or not your timing couldn't be more perfect," Kassia revealed. The Master and the Doctor took extreme interest in this fact.

"Why?" asked the Doctor desperate to learn more. Kassia pointed to the roof of the Grove.

"There are no stars in the sky!" she exclaimed. "We don't know what's happened."

"Yes nor do we," confessed the Doctor lying. "We came on behalf of the Council of Elders to find out what happened and why Traken and Logopolis were spared."

"Oh how I love the Council," the Master grumbled rolling his eyes as he hooked his thumbs on the edge of his pant pockets and stood there with a dark look in his eyes.

"Well you're here and so too are the representatives from something called a Marine Space Corp," Kassia further explained.

"Oh…right," said the Doctor recalling how in their rage the two Time Lords had left Mel and Tarrant behind. He wasn't looking forward to that meeting.

"We'll do what we can," the Master said before he fought to repress a chuckle.

Kassia nodded grateful. "Good. My husband Tremas should be here shortly to come and pick me up, I'll introduce you then."

"Yeah…," said the Doctor distracted before he realized what was said. He and the Master instantly snapped their heads to look at her.

"Wait…Tremas?!?!" shouted both the Master and the Doctor electrified. Kassia was nearly thrown off her feet by the outburst as Tremas entered into the room.

"Hello my love," he said walking up to her and then noticing the two Time Lords. "Oh, hello I am Tremas who are you."

"I-I'm the Doctor," said the Doctor at a complete loss as he held up his shaking hand to Tremas. Both shook and then he stood face to face with the Master.

"And your name?" he asked curiously. The Master struggled to form a coherent sentence as his body began to shut down.

"I-I-I- a-am t-the-the," he began. He couldn't do it. His hand was only partway up when for the first time that he could recall in a long time, he fainted dead away. The Doctor held his composure for only a few more seconds as he looked from Tremas to the Master and then up at him again before he too passed out and collapsed next to the Master.

"Oh hello father," said Nyssa appearing by Tremas's side. "Oh…who are they?"

"I don't know my dear," said Tremas as Mel and Commander Tarrant strolled into the Grove.

"Hello I'm Commander Tarrant and this is Melanie Bush, we're with the Marine Space Corp," said Tarrant introducing themselves.

"Tremas, my wife Kassia, and my daughter Nyssa," explained Tremas as he shook their hands.

"Do I know you?" asked Mel looking at Tremas closely. Tremas shrugged.

"I…don't know. Maybe I just have that face," said Tremas trying to be helpful. Mel suddenly realized where she had recognized him from.

"It isn't possible…," she said softly before seeing the two fainted Time Lords and crashing as well.

"What is going on here?" demanded Tremas. Tarrant shrugged.

"That is a good question," she agreed. From behind them, the Empress watched through the 'eyes' of the Malkur statue.

"At last you have arrived and soon I will have my revenge," she stated evilly before vanishing into the shadows.

A/N: If you're not familiar with The Keeper of Traken story that occurred right before Logopolis, Tremas(an anagram for Master) was played by Anthony Ainley. At the end of the serial The Master played in that story by Geoffrey Beavers ended up possessing Tremas's body. And so the Master was now portrayed by Anthony Ainley for the rest of the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Doctor's tenures. Hence the Master is essentially being confronted by his own image and the Doctor as well so both fainted dead away in shock. Mel encountered Ainley's Master in The Ultimate Foe and that's why she fainted too although it took her a moment because Ainley's appearance changed from an elderly Tremas to a more youthful Master when he was possessed.


	7. Locarno

A/N: I know I sound like a broken record, but Logopolis to me is such a great story. I know its likely nostalgia overwhelming my senses but if nothing else I hope this inspires someone who might not like the serial, or even someone who hasn't seen it, to watch it. I mean I realize that the serial is hated because it was Tom Baker's last, but it was a hell of a way to go out. But look at it this way, for once there wasn't a reset. In the current run of the show, nearly every series has ended with a reset button. But for this story there wasn't one and it was the most devastating of them all. I just hope that someday someone in charge of the Doctor Who decides to revisit this serial and its repercussions. Because it wasn't part of a galaxy that was wiped out, it was a chunk of the universe and that has to count for something since they built up to the story for the entire E-Space Saga and The Keeper of Traken. Anyway, I'm off my soapbox and back to writing.

Traken: The two Time Lords laid unconscious in the city's main care ward while Mel who had woken up earlier was staying well away from Tremas but was refusing to say why until the Time Lords woke up.

"This is all very unsettling," said Kassia to Commander Tarrant as she had done her best to explain all that had happened over the last six months.

"I can imagine," said Tarrant sitting on the edge of the Doctor's gurney. "I realize you only have my word to go on for this, but there are no stars in the sky. I hope that counts for something."

Kassia nodded grimly. "Yes and the universe has advanced considerably in the mere six months since the stars vanished and you contacted us. It all points to us having been gone for a long time."

"You realize that if it's true…," began Tarrant before trailing off. Kassia nodded.

"Then we all would have died when the entropy spread across the universe," Kassia agreed. "I hope you won't think it rude of us if we still hold out hope that what you say isn't true."

"Oh I understand completely," said Tarrant being sympathetic. "I'd imagine if the positions were reversed I'd be saying the same thing."

"But why us?" pleaded Kassia.

"I don't know," said Tarrant apologetically. Groans were heard from the Doctor and the Master as they slowly roused. The Master's eyes opened and he once more spied Tremas.

"Not today!" he shouted as he quickly lifted his arm and aimed the Tissue Compression Eliminator at the man and fired. But nothing happened. The Master pressed the button repeatedly but still nothing happened. He looked at the device and saw that it was the Sonic Screwdriver instead and glanced at the Doctor who was looking at the device confused before he produced the Tissue Compression Eliminator.

"Mel switched them earlier figuring you might do something to Tremas," Tarrant explained. "I do have to wonder why though."

"I have my reasons," the Master swore as he and the Doctor sat up and exchanged devices.

"We just had a bad experience once with a man who looked like him," said the Doctor dryly as the Master glared at him.

"I see…," said Tremas a little perturbed. "Well now that you're conscious perhaps we can get to the bottom of what's going on. The council wishes to speak with you at your earliest convenience."

"We will," the Doctor promised. "But please don't think this request odd of me, but may I speak with your daughter if she is here?"

Tremas did find this request odd and he said so.

"I assure you it is of grave importance," the Doctor promised as the Master began rubbing his hands in anticipation of getting her hands on the Doctor's former companion.

"Very well," said Tremas backing down. "I will go get her."

He left, leaving the two Time Lords alone with Commander Tarrant for the first time since they'd abandoned her on Logopolis.

"What's really going on here?" she demanded, dispensing with the niceties. It was far too late for that now.

"Time Lord business," answered the Doctor gruffly. "It doesn't concern you."

Tarrant laughed. "Oh, that's rich it really is. This is my business because I represent the entire civilized universe!"

"And we represent the whole of time!" roared the Master causing Tarrant to involuntarily shrink back. "We're Time Lords, we are above any possible authority you could hope to obtain or achieve in your species long and miserable existence."

"What my 'esteemed' colleague is trying to say," said the Doctor trying to interject some rationality into this madness. "Is that this is our mess and we will clean it up. You only need to sit by and let us do our work, that's all."

"But I can't do that," said Tarrant disagreeing. "Not when the safety of the entire universe is at stake."

The Doctor looked at her impressed as the Master looked away annoyed.

"I see you've come quite a bit since we parted ways," said the Doctor nodding his head. "Good. But also bad. But good."

Mel entered into the room a little shaken before walking over to the Master, drawing in a deep breath, and slapping him hard across the face.

"You bastard," she seethed as the Master just stared maliciously right back. She was going to slap him again before the Doctor grabbed her arm to restrain her.

"How could you let him do that to an innocent man!" she shouted, her fury now on the Doctor even as she couldn't bear to face him.

"I didn't know," answered the Doctor remorseful. "Not until after it happened."

"And then…?" demanded Mel as her eyes threatened to well up with tears.

"…And then what?" asked the Doctor confused. Mel turned to face him.

"Why didn't you separate the Master's consciousness from the body?" she said furiously. "I know you could have done that!"

"You're right I could have," the Doctor agreed mournfully. "But I couldn't."

"Why not?" said Mel desperately.

"I just couldn't," responded the Doctor softly. "I have my reasons."

"Okay then…," said Tarrant feeling a little awkward at the whole intimacy the conversation had taken. "Look, I'm going to go contact my ship but I'm going to demand a full debriefing later on your conversation with this 'Nyssa' person."

"Somebody say my name?" asked Nyssa popping into the room. Tarrant looked at her once more and then at the Doctor before silently, and very reluctantly, excusing herself from the room. The Doctor looked at Mel pointedly as she huffed upset and headed for the exit as well.

"Mel," called the Doctor after her. She paused briefly by the door. "You have a right to hate me; you have a right to do that. But you have no right to judge me. Someday I hope you will understand that every decision I make regarding the Master are always the toughest decisions I have to make in life."

Mel nodded briefly and was gone leaving the two Time Lords with Nyssa of Traken whom had joined the Doctor's crew during the Logopolis disaster. She looked exactly like the Doctor had remembered her when they'd parted ways on a space station that had essentially been a dumping ground for terminally ill patients and lepers. Nyssa had opted to stay behind to try and turn things around and help these people and the Doctor, in his fifth incarnation, had thought so too at the time. But now…

"Nyssa," said the Time Lord in quiet disbelief. "What have you done?"

Nyssa looked at him confused. "I…don't understand. What have I done? Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor!" said the Doctor incredulously. Nyssa looked at him doubtfully.

"You look more like the Patient to me," she said suppressing a giggle. The Doctor shot a look at the Master who was watching the whole conversation with interest. Giving in due to the Doctor's look he turned to face the Trakenite.

"He is the Doctor, yes, but I am the Master!" he said with as much darkness as he could muster. Nyssa eyed him curiously, his evil tone having gone right over her head.

"Master of what?" she asked. The Time Lord leaned forward.

"Everything," he said with a sinister smile.

"Oh," said Nyssa softly. "Well no offense but that's a little pretentious isn't it?"

The Master leaned back and threw up his hand and placed his loose fist against his mouth in silent contemplation.

"Doctor," he began frankly, yet also not going so far as to tip off Nyssa. "I say we just do what we came here to do and be done with it."

"What would that solve, do you seriously think that backup plans wouldn't be in place in the event we did what you're suggesting?" said the Doctor doubtful about his plan.

"I know I'd be happy!" the Master said lamely. The Doctor shook his head before returning to the now bewildered Traken.

"Nyssa stop playing this game. We both know you've hacked the CVEs!" said the Doctor irate. "You don't know what you're messing with one wrong move and the whole universe could be consumed by entropy!"

"I don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about!" said Nyssa beginning to become upset. "I came here because you asked me to yes, but I won't just stand here and be insulted!"

The Doctor and the Master didn't have a response for this. Instead both took out their rod devices and scanned the woman and then read the results.

"My apologies Nyssa," said the Doctor distantly. "I…was thinking you were someone else."

Nyssa curtsied and left the room. The Doctor and the Master each considered the readings on the device.

"Well I'm at a loss," said the Doctor standing up as the Master followed suit and both exited the room.

"I'm not," said the Master. "But you'll get no answers from me on this one you'll just have to figure it out for yourself."

"Well that's not fair," said the Doctor feigning shock at the Master's statement.

"I'm not the good guy Doctor, don't forget that just because we're working together," said the Master pointedly as they stepped out of the hospital and into the light.

"I haven't," said the Doctor slightly disappointed. He was then joined up by Mel and Commander Tarrant and Tremas along with Kassia.

"We wondered if you wouldn't honor us by attending a formal dinner with the Council," asked Tremas of them. The Doctor nodded humbly.

"Yes, I could use some food in me," the Doctor agreed rubbing his stomach. "I'll be there."

"As will I," said Mel also a little hungry. Tarrant nodded as well.

"If it's all the same I may invite down some of my senior staff as well," said Tarrant. Tremas nodded in approval. The only person left was the Master.

"We'll see," he offered noncommittally. And then he was gone heading off in a different direction.

"I'll be around as well," said the Doctor gruffly as he walked off in a completely opposite direction. Mel and Tarrant watched them go.

"I'll never understand those two," said Mel shaking her head in frustration. Tarrant nodded.

"It's the same way with me and Jill at times," she said offhand before looking at the two departing bodies thoughtful. "_I wonder…_"

But she shrugged it off and continued on with Mel, Tremas and Kassia who were explaining the history of the Traken Union back when it had still been around.

Later…

Grove: The Master strode into the Grove with a purpose as he made a beeline for the Melkur statue. Not wasting a single moment, the laser screwdriver that he'd secretly stolen from the Doctor much earlier shot into his right hand and he aimed it at the statue and fired as it flew apart in a tremendous explosion. Squatting down the Master began rummaging through the statue as he recovered several pieces of audiovisual technology and began piecing them together and hotwiring numerous pieces of it with his Tissue Compression Eliminator. He then attached the listening device he'd confiscated much earlier from Logopolis onto the strange contraption he had made and held it into the air as it began beeping at different intervals in different direction.

"Oh Empress, you should never copy someone while the creator is still running around," he said with a slight smirk as he disappeared into a strange underground sewer system.

Resident Quarters: The Doctor was sitting alone in the room that was primarily bare aside from a simple chemistry set and his sonic screwdriver that both sat on the desk in front of him.

"What the Matrix do you know that I don't?" he said frustrated. The soil was just as inert and worthless as the stuff back on Logopolis but he couldn't figure out why the Trakenites hadn't noticed it yet. They'd clearly been living for six months but on what he couldn't tell. Stored Food Stuffs were a possibility, but how their entire population could still be using them after six months was a total mystery. How was it that this world and Logopolis had been created? And what of Nyssa? She really had no clue who he was, but she _had_ survived Traken's destruction and that left him even more confused. Not having the answers was driving him insane like he was missing a vital clue to the puzzle that the Master had already figured out.

A knock at his door interrupted his thoughts.

"Let's go Doc," said Mel's muffled voice. The Time Lord got up and was about to put away his Screwdriver when he thought better of it and took it and a test tube over to the bed and carefully drilled a hole in one of the wooden posts and he carefully rigged a device with a spring and a piece of wire and then placed a cork on the top of the hole he'd made.

"Let's go Mel," he said opening the door to find her in a flowing white dress and Tarrant nearby in her formal dress uniform. Together the three headed down the hallway.

"I don't suppose you've seen…," began the Time Lord hopeful.

"No," said Mel shaking her head. "We can only hope he's already at the banquet."

"Then here's hoping," said the Doctor worried.

Unknown: The Empress entered into a darkened chamber and walked over to a large electronic wall device and sat down on it as she flipped on the viewscreens. But the image returned was nothing but static. Growling, she flipped more and more switches, levers, and buttons until finally an image began to resolve itself on the screen.

"Finally…," she said relieved. But the image wasn't what she was expecting. Instead of an image of the Grove instead an image appeared showing her from behind in what little light there was. A beep then echoed through the room as the Empress slowly and tensely turned around to see the Master lean forward out of the shadows, having been sitting on one of the tables in the room for what must have been a long time.

"Hello 'Empress'," said the Master as he cradled the electronic device he'd used to find her on his lap. "It's been awhile."

"The Master," the Empress acknowledged. "It has been awhile hasn't it?"

"It should have been forever," commented the Time Lord darkly before returning to a more serene state. "But clearly it hasn't so here we are."

"Yes," the Empress agreed. "I see you also managed to not be fooled by my deception."

"Oh it was an admirable effort," the Master said with mild praise. "But…it was also foolish. You may have managed to pull the wool over the Doctor's eyes but I'm not so easy. You're just dabbling with evil and when it comes to evil I am the master."

"I can see," said the Empress slightly disappointed. "So where did I go wrong?"

"You got poetic," said the Master disappointed at such a rookie mistake. "You see the first thing you have to do when you set out to kill somebody is to actually kill them. The longer you wait after having made your first move, the greater their chance at surviving. Until eventually you get to the point where you've missed your opportunity altogether."

"So where am I?" asked the Empress going along with it. "Have I lost all hope yet?"

"Perhaps," the Master admitted. "Perhaps not. It really depends on what else you plan to do from here on now that you know certain things."

"So where did I do wrong?" asked the Empress curious.

"Simple," said the Master. "You shouldn't have created this world. Logopolis would have done the job in fact it _has_ done the job in a manner of speaking. But you felt homesick and then created this world. That was your mistake. When you kill somebody you should never make it personal. Now it may be personal to you but your methods must not incorporate this into them. And when you do decide to leave a red herring, it must be subtly done. Nyssa wasn't subtle in the slightest."

"I'll keep that in mind," said the Empress nodding her head. "But I do have to wonder why you're telling me all this."

"It's not because I'm going to kill you right now though I would certainly like to. But as our mutual Time Lord friend is so willing to point out, you do have a fail-safe in place in case you are killed and I'd rather not risk that right now since I have no means of escape at the moment," admitted the Master frankly. "That and I always crave a challenge. The Doctor isn't going to provide one at the moment so I guess I have to see if you'll do the job. As such I don't want to see you make rookie mistakes anymore understand? If you don't provide an adequate challenge you'll die plain and simple. So go and call your guards and let the games begin."

The Empress looked at him warily before guards began swarming the area and all aimed their weapons at the Master who stood up calmly and brushed off his suit.

"And just for the Doctor's sake, I'll also give you one last chance. Surrender now and make things easy or refuse and face the consequences," the Master said harshly. The Empress shook her head.

"Life hasn't been easy since entropy destroyed my world," she hissed.

"Then may the Source protect you because I certainly won't," the Master growled. The Empress pointed off as the guards escorted the Master away.

"Move on the others as well," she ordered her lead commander who nodded and marched off.

Dining Area: A large table was full of all sorts of exotic foods as the Council and the senior staff from _The Data Tracker_ anxiously waited to dig in and eat. The Doctor wasn't interested in any of it as he just couldn't let go of the fact that some nugget of information was eluding him that his fellow Time Lord clearly knew.

"_But what could it be…he wasn't here much longer than I was on these two planets_," thought the Time Lord frustrated. "_Rassilon!"_

"Attention all, attention," said Tremas standing up with his glass. "I would like to make a toast. To the future of Traken in whatever form it might take. We don't know what's happened but we will get through it as we always have through peace, love, and harmony. To the Source, the provider of all!"

"The Source!" shouted the other Council member's along with the others in the room.

"To the Source!" said the Doctor distracted before realization hit him dead on and he dropped his chalice on the table and held his head with his hands like he'd just received a major headache before he began moaning. "Oh for the love of…no! I don't believe it! Rassilon! Omega! Oh…great…! Oh terrific, oh man… Oh, ho, ho, you got me good Empress you got me good. The Source, how could I have forgotten about the Source, no wonder the Master knew what was going on!"

Everyone looked at him strangely as the Doctor got up and began pacing the room with a manic grin on his face.

"I don't believe it!" he shouted. The others began eating their food and drinking from their cups. To Doctor's expectations, everyone who wasn't a Traken either spit out their drinks or dropped their food onto their plates.

"Doctor…," said Tarrant in surprise. "This food…"

"It has no taste right?" he asked to her nod. "And let me guess the water has no flavor."

Mel nodded as she wiped her mouth of the remaining liquid. The Doctor then stopped and squatted by Tremas.

"How's the food, exquisite?" he asked humbly. Tremas nodded.

"Yes, the best flavor the galaxy has to provide," said Tremas taking another hearty bite of the meat on his plate.

"Well there you go!" said the Doctor throwing his hands in disgust. "You see the Trakens found it great everyone else found it bland and dull. Why? Because the food, the people, the world, all of it is completely fake! Now I know what you're thinking the Magratheans made this world. No they didn't otherwise the soil would have minerals and the food would have taste. But it's an all an illusion and the only person who saw it for it was…"

"Was me," concluded the Master as he was escorted in by the guards who swarmed the area and aimed their weapons at everyone in the room.

"Did you always know?" asked the Doctor curious despite the guns drawn on him.

"I told you it was her but you and your cursed optimism didn't believe me," said the Master shaking his head. "If I had led this mission we would've been done by now and home for tea."

"Would it help if I said I'm sorry?" asked the Doctor hopeful as he was forced back into his seat.

"Depends," said the Master taking a seat at the other end of the table. "Are you now willing to do what is necessary?"

"I am now," said the Doctor with a grin as he and the Master began laughing to themselves.

"Good," said the Master pleased as he took a drink and spewed it out. As he did, the Empress strode into the room.

"I see you've figured it out as well Doctor," said the Empress, her face obscured by a hood, as she leaned at the front of the table next to Tremas who was sitting there bewildered with his mouth half stuffed with food.

"I must say you did a good job, I didn't see this coming which is why I brought the Master along. I knew one of us would figure it out eventually," said the Time Lord in an almost bored state. "I have to admit you did a good job Nyssa, you really did. Tapping into the Source was an option I hadn't even considered since I figured that when Traken went, it went with it. But instead it transferred into you, the last Traken."

"I beg your pardon?" said Nyssa confused as she sat at the table. "I haven't done anything Doctor."

"No you haven't," the Doctor agreed. "The Nyssa sitting at the table didn't do anything, the Nyssa standing at the table did. She used the Source, perhaps the ultimate source of power in this part of the universe, and through sheer will created two worlds where they had not been for eons past."

"Too true Doctor, too true," said the Empress as she threw back her hood revealing a much older Nyssa with wrinkles all over her face and stark gray hair. "I did create all this because I am going to see you both suffer for what you did to me. I was only a young and foolish child when the Master murdered my father. Then before I could even begin to come to grips with what happened, you destroyed not just my world, not just my solar system, not even the Union my people had created but my entire portion of the universe! There's nothing you can say that will ever manage to ease my pain and so I will instead force it upon you."

The guards now began hauling the non-Trakens out of the room.

"I do have one thing to say Nyssa," said the Doctor as he forced the guard to stop taking him when he was right next to her. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

And then he was gone leaving Nyssa alone with the others. She looked at them with disgust and with a wave of her hand they were gone.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust," she stated bitterly and left the room.


	8. Itherious

Traken: The Doctor and the Master sat back to back on the floor of Tremas's library in silent repose as Mel and Commander Tarrant paced the room.

"You may as well sit down, we're not going anywhere until she lets us go somewhere," observed the Doctor. "You're just wasting energy and when you're tired and hungry you'll be in no shape to help anyone."

"Not necessarily," the Master pointed out. "You don't need any energy to become cannon fodder by being human shields."

"True," the Doctor conceded. "Plus the extra loss of weight _would_ make them easier to carry."

"Plus the Time Lords are noted cannibals," said the Master amused. "It's a plan with no drawbacks!"

Both chuckled evilly at that before clapping hands still back to back.

"You're not being very helpful," said Tarrant still looking for a way out.

"Well I'm hardly worried about my own safety," said the Master nonchalantly. "I mean I've died before but have still managed to come back. I don't imagine this being any different."

"And how exactly are you planning on coming back?" asked the Doctor doubtful.

"Maybe with this!" said the Master producing a certain Fob Watch. He handed it to the Doctor.

"Hey, this is mine!" he exclaimed. "Where's yours?"

"Right here," said the Master producing a second Fob Watch. "Hasn't been used either I just picked up yours at some point in the timeline and used it again. I did it so you wouldn't psychically detect the watch but having been used twice, the watch automatically applied a more intense perception filter. I almost didn't come back," said the Master a little fearful of that prospect.

"Hmmm, I wondered why Martha said your watch was identical to mine. Now I know," said the Doctor taking his watch and looking at the two designs. They were nearly identical with only a couple of small different changes. The Doctor pocketed his and returned the other one to the Master.

"Course there's always the ring," the other Time Lord continued as he took off the ring and then flipped it off his thumb so it soared over his head and the Doctor's only to land in the Time Lord's outstretched hand.

"Whatever you say Ming," commented the Doctor offhand as he looked at the ring closely and then flipped it back to the Master who pocketed it.

"What Doctor, not impressed with my bag of tricks?" the Master asked feigning hurt.

"Sure," said the Doctor mockingly before he blew a raspberry. "Like you'll be using any of these to escape death this time around."

"Nope I won't," said the Master shaking his head in agreement. "Which of course raises my next question, how did you figure out I wasn't dead this time around?"

"Like I said back on Earth, I know you," the other Time Lord said knowingly. "I knew you wouldn't intentionally kill yourself under the guise of giving me pain. Not when you could live on and give me further pain in the future. So I traveled a few hundred years into the future from 2008, found the ring, and here we are."

The other nodded and both sat there in silence as Tarrant tried forcing the door again with Mel's help.

"Why do we survive?" asked the Master echoing a question the Doctor had heard years earlier.

"I don't know," responded the Doctor just as clueless now as he had been then. "I don't think we ever will. Some things are just too much even for Time Lords to know for certain."

"Perhaps," the Master mused as both Mel and Tarrant slammed against the door and collapsed exhausted. "Old friend?"

"Yeah?" asked the Doctor. It had been years since the Master had called him that so he gave the Time Lord his full attention.

"Back on the Cyberman Ship you said you were going to say something you felt you hadn't said enough, what was it?" asked the Master softly so the others couldn't here.

"You know what I was going to say," responded the Doctor also speaking quietly. The Master sighed.

"You still haven't given up on me have you?" he said. It wasn't really a question.

"Never," the Doctor swore sadly. "You're the only friend I have left in this crazy universe."

"Oh you have plenty of friends," the Master said dismissively. The Doctor shook his head sadly.

"I've had plenty of companions over the years which all know a side of me but we've known each other our entire lives. We've fought and saved people up and down the cosmos. We both know each other better than anyone else living or dead," said the Doctor emphatically. "Maybe that's why we survive because without the other we'd just go spinning out of control into the abyss."

The Master didn't have a response to that at first as he thought more on the subject.

"Then why do we fight?" asked the Master.

"I think we almost have to," the Doctor figured. "I mean the only real time we come together for a common goal is when there's something much worse out there. Countless planets and worlds have ancient stories about two individuals feuding for reasons known and unknown. Some fight the whole of eternity even. The idea had to come from somewhere after all it's a common theme."

"Like from us?" asked the Master amused.

"Could be," said the Doctor not wishing to completely dismiss the other's idea. "I mean even Gallifrey had its own story in the form of the fight between Omega and Rassilon during the birth of our people. We're just two of a long line of individuals destined to fight for as long as we live."

"Is that how we'll die?" asked the Master wanting his opinion on the subject. "Together in a blaze of glory and hate?"

"No," said the Doctor knowingly. "I'll die first trying to stop your evil plans and then you'll realize just what is that you've done and you'll die as you make it right again."

"Am I allowed to be disappointed with my final death?" asked the Master hopeful.

"Sure why not," said the Doctor lightly as he held his hands behind his head and began whistling as the doors were flung open and Nyssa marched in with her troops. The two looked at the newcomers but didn't bother getting up.

"Doctor, Master," she acknowledged. Both yawned and stretched but otherwise said nothing…to her at least.

"You know I'm surprised that you were the first one to drive a companion insane," the Master commented. "I always thought it would be me first."

"Well in all fairness at least all of your companions have tried to kill you at one point or another," the Doctor said amicably. "Except me, but that's different."

The Master nodded as Nyssa ordered the guards to haul them to their feet. The two Time Lords brushed themselves off as the weakened Tarrant and Mel were held upright as well.

"So what now child are you going to kill us?" said the Master bored.

"No," said Nyssa disagreeing with him. "Not you at least because I know that you have no fear of death so harming you will accomplish nothing. I will however harm you Doctor because you're the real evil behind all of this."

The Doctor shook his head in shame as the guards yanked him towards the doors.

"What do you say to that Master?" asked Nyssa dripping with anger. The Master crossed his arms.

"Why should it matter to me?" he asked curious. The Trakenite reached into her pocket on the front of her robed outfit and produced a folded sheet of paper.

"Because of this," she said and then promptly shredded the sheet into tiny pieces right in front of him.

"What do you say about that?" she sneered. The Master stepped closer as the guards aimed their weapons at him.

"Understand this. I'm going to kill you anyway but it was going to be a painless and simple death out of respect for you helping the Doctor. But now you are going to experience a fate worse than death," the Master swore as his eyes almost pitch black with pure evil the likes of which had never been seen in the universe before. "So go ahead and take him and do your worst because I guarantee you it won't be anything close to what I'm going to do to you."

For the first real time since Nyssa had begun her quest for vengeance, she had her first pang of fear that managed to make its way through her wall of hatred for the two Time Lords.

"Oh and Doctor," the Master called out in a friendly tone.

"Yes?" asked the fellow Time Lord.

"I solemnly swear that I am going to be the one responsible for your ultimate death," the Master promised. Mel and Commander Tarrant craned their heads to look at the Doctor as best they could despite their exhausted states. To their and Nyssa's surprise the Doctor cracked a genuine smile at that.

"I'm gonna hold you to that," he stated still smiling as he vanished from the room. Nyssa turned to leave but before she did she turned around look at the now indifferent Master.

"Execute them," she stated. The Master visibly cleared his throat at that.

"What?" she demanded.

"Can we be executed in the Grove instead?" asked the Master. "Because I figure you'd want some place a little bit more poetic than this since the Grove was where I manipulated your people into nearly destroying themselves."

"Didn't you tell me to no longer be poetic?" Nyssa responded promptly. The Master nodded.

"I did but I just figured it was less poetic than this place since I stole your father's body in this room," the Master felt the need to admit. Nyssa's eyes glared with rage at him for that statement.

"Execute them in one of the side rooms," she ordered and left. The guards didn't even have to take the Master with them he just strode out of the room.

"I love a good execution," he said happily as his persona seemed to change from terror of the universe to happy-go-lucky Harold Saxon. "Especially when it's my own! That makes it all the more fun!"

He bounded down the hallway humming to himself as they were followed by the bewildered guards who were pushing Mel and Tarrant with them.

Elsewhere: The Doctor was escorted into a room with a giant laser cannon and a restraining table in front of it. The Doctor sat down on the table as Nyssa was left in the room alone with him.

"Nyssa let's talk about this," the Doctor pleaded. "I know you've been put through a lot but so I have in the meantime. I didn't know how to possibly help you cope with what happened but now I can just let me help you."

"Trying to save yourself Doctor?" Nyssa said with anger as tears began flowing down her face.

"I'm trying to save you," the Doctor answered truthfully. "I was the one responsible for the destruction of my people as well so you can imagine that I've been put through almost as much as you have."

"It's too late for me Doctor I've already made my choice," said his former companion bitterly. "Far too late."

"Alright Nyssa," said the Doctor backing down not wanting to anger her. "Just remember that you are responsible for your own destiny and no one else."

Nyssa didn't say anything she just left as the laser cannon aimed at the Doctor who willingly laid down on the table awaiting his doom.

Room: The Master strode into a room and looked around.

"Ah this should be it," he said approvingly as the guards filed in with Mel and Tarrant. "Okay, kill us here!"

"Why here?" asked one of the guards suspicious.

"Because when you shoot me I should fall on the bed. That way I really get an 'eternal' nights sleep," said the Master with a smile. The guards shrugged and grouped the three together at the heart of the bed in the room.

"Read…aim…," began the trooper.

"Die," finished the Master as his right foot connected with the bed post causing the Sonic Screwdriver to launch from its post and into his hand, which he then aimed at the troopers.

"Surrender!" he ordered. The guards looked at the device and laughed.

"We know what that is, it's of no harm to us whatsoever," said one of them.

"Right," the Master agreed lightly as he flipped the thing on and it glowed its serene blue light. "Because it doesn't kill or wound or maim. But ask yourself this, why doesn't it do any of those things? I mean are you seriously telling me that with all the things this can do that it's really impossible for someone to die from it? I don't accept that for a minute. But it's true and do you know why?"

The guards shook their heads as the Master's expression turned from light hearted to his signature malicious glare.

"It doesn't do those things because the Doctor doesn't do any of those things," he growled as the device in his hand began shaking and throwing off sparks as it began pulsing with energy. "This thing is also susceptible to psychic energy. But it also has a perception filter to prevent those with evil impulses from manifesting itself in a form that this screwdriver can provide. For any normal individual they couldn't hope to use this for evil. But for a Time Lord, especially one such as myself it's a simple matter to turn this from the most benign device on this planet to a weapon that would put an atomic weapon to shame. Hence…die."

The blue LED now erupted into red as electricity started arcing off of it while the device continued shaking despite itself. The guards immediately squeezed the triggers as the Master flung his right hand forward like he was casting a fishing line as a massive red energy blast filled the room.

Laser Room: The laser was about to fire when the entire room shook from the force of the explosion and the lights went out before emergency lighting came on.

"What's going on?" demanded Nyssa of her lead scientist.

"Explosion in one of the resident's quarters," said the scientist checking a 3-D outline of the city that showed a big gaping hole in one room along with several others moving away in a single direction. Nyssa scowled deeply as a phone rang nearby. The scientist picked it up and listened to the voice on the other end before shakily handing it to Nyssa.

"It's…for you," the scientist stuttered. Nyssa grabbed the receiver and held it to her ear.

"What?" she yelled into it.

"I just wanted to thank you for not getting poetic," came the response on the other end. Nyssa growled even louder this time.

"I suppose you think you're so clever don't you?" she accused.

"I'm not clever I'm just good at manipulating people," answered the voice. "But now I'll give you some actual advice. Run. Don't stop, just run. Run and run and run and run like you've never run before. And then when you're tired beyond belief run even more. Because I'm coming for you and I'm not going to stop until you have."

The line went dead as Nyssa looked up at the Doctor who had sat up and was looking around confused.

"When will you have enough power to activate the laser?" asked Nyssa.

"Soon, within a few minutes," answered the scientist.

"Then activate it at your first chance," said Nyssa before she toggled the comm. switch to the room.

"He's escaped hasn't he?" the Doctor asked before she said anything.

"Yes," came Nyssa's calm response. The Doctor sighed.

"You have to let me out now," he said. "He's overridden the perception filter on my Sonic Screwdriver that means he has nearly become consumed by his rage. I'm the only one who might be able to talk some sense into him if I can reach him now!"

"I don't think so Doctor," said Nyssa shaking her head. "I've waited long enough for this and I'm not going to see you survive this."

"Nyssa…," said the Doctor sadly. "Then at least tell me how to save the universe from the entropy."

Nyssa shook her head sadly. "No, it's all I have left. And I'm going to see that everyone suffers the same pain I have. Goodbye Doctor."

She left the viewing room as the Doctor watched her go.

"Be brave Nyssa," was all he could come up with as guards marched into the room and properly secured him to the table and left the room. Another explosion rocked the room once more as the ceiling began rattling off tiny pieces.

"Because you've just opened Pandora's Box," he finished grimly.

Elsewhere: A group of guards were firing their weapons into a dark corridor filled with fallen debris when a red light became visible followed by a massive energy beam that tore them to pieces flinging blood and guts all over the room. The Master strode through the devastation calmly, only pausing to remove the occasional entrail that landed on his suit from the ceiling, and walked on unabated. After a few moments, Mel and Commander Tarrant stumbled into the area. Tarrant's suit had been torn in various places from the debris and Mel's white dress was so red that she looked like the title from character from the film Carrie.

"Come on," said Tarrant stumbling on despite her exhaustion. "We have to find the Doctor and stop him. I don't care what this 'Nyssa' character has done but clearly she's the least of our worries at the moment."

"Agreed," said Mel also stumbling along as the debris cut through the bottom of her dress. "Sorry about your-."

"Don't worry about that just keep moving," said Tarrant as the two moved on despite the pain.

Room: The laser was nearly powered up as the sounds of gunfire and laserfire could be heard accompanied by ever louder explosions.

"Don't take this the wrong way but you might want to leave," said the Doctor to the scientist's doubtful stare.

"Again with…," began the scientist over the mic.

"I'm trying to save Nyssa!" the Doctor shouted. "He's not coming to save me he's coming to kill her!"

"Goodbye Doctor," said the scientist as now the whole room was nearly thrown out of the building by a tremendous blast nearby. Finally the laser cannon powered up and aimed at the Time Lord. Then a stream of energy came from the front nozzle but before it could reach the Doctor, another explosion tore the side door off of its hinges and it flew across the room in a spiral before knocking the cannon into a spin before it stopped as the beam flew through the air before settling on the scientist and spearing him through the heart causing him to collapse. The Doctor's expression dropped at the unnecessary violence as the Master passed by outside not even bothering to look inside the room as bullets and lasers flew past him only for him to fire back with the Screwdriver and the firing stopped. The Master then continued onwards on his single-minded quest to kill Nyssa as the Doctor struggled helplessly against his bonds. He was about to go out of his mind when Mel and Commander Tarrant stumbled against the doorframe out of breath.

"Hey you two, what's up?" asked the Doctor lightly as another explosion rocked the room.

"It's about damn time," Tarrant complained as she and Mel freed the Doctor from his bonds and he sat up rubbing his wrists.

"Like old times right Mel?" he asked with a mild grin.

"Oh you've got that right," Mel said exhausted as she slumped onto the table. The Doctor nodded and patted her reassuringly on the shoulder as Tarrant looked around the room.

"Where's my crew?" said the Commander concerned.

"They're likely being held in the prison facility across town," the Doctor answered. "I'm sure they're safe…"

A laser blast tore through the ceiling and through the floor.

"Ummm," said the Time Lord confused before he ran to the window and looked out. "Oh great, not now!"

"What?" demanded Tarrant as he looked outside to see a Sontaran dropship explode in the sky above as other dropships flew all around the city while larger Cybermen, Sontaran, and Rutan Host ships were blasting each other in the upper atmosphere.

"You might want to hurry, find your dropship, and get out of here," said the Doctor. "If your star cruiser has been destroyed just head for civilized space, I'll pick you up later. Go!"

He shoved the two out the doorway as the room exploded with a Cyberman fighter sweeping the area and then both reluctantly split ways in the hallway.

Outside: Nyssa ran from building to building as laser and missile fire cut up everything in the city she had taken so long to recreate. But she would rebuild and she would expel these invaders from her planet's soil…

…Once she was rid of the Master. He seemed completely oblivious to everything around him as he strode down the center of the street as if he and Nyssa were the only ones on the planet. The Time Lord lifted the Sonic Screwdriver and fired it at her. Nyssa dropped to the ground as the bolt rocketed over her head and into the sky. Turning around, Nyssa stared at the Time Lord.

"What are you waiting for, just kill me!" she shouted over the explosions going on all around them.

"I want a challenge!" shouted the Master in response. "You're not giving me one!"

"Well what would you have me do?" demanded Nyssa. "You've got the advantage!"

"Only because you _think_ I have the advantage," the Master shot back. "This weapon is long-range at best you need to find a way to get close enough to make this a close quarters combat and then wrest the weapon away from me and then use it on me. You need to-."

WHAM

The Master fell to the ground with the Screwdriver scattering away from him as the Doctor pulled back his outstretched fist and rubbed it.

"You always did talk too much," he commented as the Master scowled and rubbed his jaw. Nyssa for her part took off running away from both of them.

"Come on get up, she's getting away," said the Doctor reaching for the Master's arm to help him up as the Master knocked him off of his feet with right cross.

"I'm not the enemy, she is!" the Master said irate. The Doctor rubbed his jaw too and laughed as a building exploded nearby.

"I know that but you need to seriously chill out," the Doctor added. "And I know I'm using that term right."

The Doctor and the Master got up and looked at each other.

"Are we going to kill her?" asked the Master simply. The Doctor shook his head.

"No we are not," answered the Doctor calmly as an out of control dropship flew over their heads and crashed nearby.

"You said you would do what is necessary," the Master said. The Doctor nodded.

"I always do what is necessary but also what is right," the other Time Lord promised. The Master crossed his arms and stared at him nonplussed.

"Then we are at a crossroads," he said. The Doctor nodded his head.

"So what do you suggest we do?" he asked curious. The Master thought about it.

"As the humans say, we can't go around it, we can't go under it, we can't go over it, we'll just have to _through_ it," said the Master holding up his fist with a maniacal smile. The Doctor groaned at that prospect.

"Can't we just…not and say we did?" he asked hopeful. The Master slowly shook his head eager for a fight.

"Oh great," said the Doctor rubbing the bridge of his nose. "When is that last time we came to blows, seventh, eighth incarnation? And why did we, we never really fought before then."

"Because you were a coward then Doctor," the Master hissed.

The Doctor immediately took offense to this. "Hey! I still am a coward thank you very much!"

"Can we just get started?" the Master declared. The Doctor nodded as a shadow fell over his benign features.

"I'm looking forward to this," the Time Lord admitted before he took out the Tissue Compression Eliminator and Laser Screwdriver that he'd confiscated earlier and threw them next to the Sonic Screwdriver.

"Alone they are a force to be reckoned with," began the Master hopping from side to side.

"But together, they're unstoppable," finished the Doctor. "_Romana help me_."

The battle joined as a quartet of hailfire missiles tore up the area around them bathing the area in fire.

Prison: Mel and Commander Tarrant moved past flaming debris and exploded buildings headed for a building in the distance.

"Is it always like this when you travel with the Doctor?" asked Tarrant as a squad of Cybermen engaged a group of Sontarans while Rutan Hosts flew by overhead in varying directions.

"Just about," said Mel nodding as they got beyond the fighting factions and kept moving towards the prison. Mel's dress was only getting more and more shredded at the bottom as they ran down the road.

"Please excuse me for this," she said stopping as Tarrant looked at her confused. Mel grabbed the bottom of the dress and began ripping at it until what had once been an elegant ballroom was now a white miniskirt.

"Ah, much better," said Mel pleased. "Now I can show myself off to all the guys around here."

Tarrant began laughing hysterically at that as Mel joined in until they had to force themselves to stop given the dire situation they were in. Still, the laughter had done wonders to their spirits and Mel could finally be more mobile when dodging enemy attacks.

"So what do you think the Doctor and the Master are up to?" asked Tarrant as they pushed into the prison.

"Oh, fighting," said Mel knowingly.

Streets: A brown and black blur raced down the streets routinely crashing into each other as the Doctor and Master kept moving at superhuman speeds nearly faster than the eye could track. When the two weren't punching they were firing their beam weapons at each other, the Doctor with the Laser Screwdriver and the Master with the Sonic Screwdriver and so on down the line.

"What are you waiting for Doctor?" demanded the Master as they were nearly face to face while moving down the street. "Stop this charade and finish me off!"

"I could say the same for you!" the Doctor shot back as a building came down in front of them and they ran straight up the rubble slope and into the air. "What are you waiting for, huh?"

The Master swung his fist and connected with the Doctor's face and the Time Lord spun around before lashing out with his foot resulting in the Doctor crashing into the ground and tumbling forward while the Master landed flat on his back. Both lay there dazed and coughing up dirt in pain.

"I am trying to kill you!" shouted the Master irate. "And I could pull it off if you weren't so damned set on living!"

"Oh I hope you'll forgive me for such an obvious character flaw," said the Doctor sarcastically as he managed to pull himself to his feet as the Master did the same, both very much out of breath. The Master squeezed his fist, cracking all of his knuckles in the process.

"You of all people should know," began the Master.

"That life is wasted on the living, I know," said the Doctor rolling his eyes. "You never change, do you? Just once I'd like for us to meet and _not_ try to kill, wound, or main each other. Is that too much to ask?"

"Like you change either," the Master grumbled as the two stumbled towards each other. "Always Mister High and Mighty, the moral compass of the universe! You never admit that you might be wrong about something!"

"Oh I was wrong about something," the Doctor choked out. "I was wrong about you. You're still the scared little child I knew back on Gallifrey who was so frightened by the Time Vortex and change that he vowed to control every aspect of time so he would never fear it again. A vow that you continue to pursue even to this day more than 900 years later only you still never realize that you can't make things how you want them too, a lesson I've learned only too hard since the Time War ended. You can't be saved I was a fool for ever thinking that you could."

The expression in the Master's eyes turned to one of shock and hurt at the Doctor's words before the anger took over and he blasted the Doctor off of his feet with a punch that rattled the Time Lord's teeth. The Doctor wiped some blood from his jaw as tears were forming in the eyes of the Master while explosions still permeated the sky.

"Come one old friend, no more secrets between us. What's really on your mind?" said the Doctor finally now that they had both calmed down. The Master looked at him through bloodshot eyes as a pair of tears escaped from them.

"Why couldn't you save our people?" demanded the Master finally as he finally broke down completely and collapsed onto the ground in a heap as tears went rolling down his face. The Doctor looked away ashamed.

"I tried," he said helpessly. "I tried everything I really did. I exhausted every possible option to stop their rampage and our massacre. But when Gallifrey fell and they moved across the Council Chamber over the bloodied and broken bodies of the Time Lord High Council, as their ships soared across the burnt orange sky, as the citadel lay in ruins…I didn't know what to do. If you had seen those images being broadcast to those of us who remained after that, the looks on our faces, the depression we all faced…what choice did we have? We were all prepared to die that day and so we made our plans to reach that final outcome.

"But I should've stopped them then and there. I shouldn't have encouraged their efforts. I should've been the one to make them all leave while _I_ atoned for my actions. But I was so scared, scared like you were when you ran to the end of time, that I couldn't bring myself to put my foot down.

"And so the plans progressed and I fell even deeper into depression until finally it was ready. We were going to die, Gallifrey, was going to die, but they were going with us and that was all that mattered. All that was left was to decide who was going to press the trigger and in the end the decision was given to me. I knew them the longest, I hated them the longest and we had the history. So the twelve of us that were left engaged in a final battle against 10 million enemy ships. And I stayed behind to administer the ultimate solution. And then when the moment came to kill everything that our people had created and kill the ultimate manifestation of evil in the universe do you know what I did?"

The Master shook his head engrossed by the story.

"I couldn't do it," the Doctor confessed. "I couldn't pull that trigger, I couldn't doom us all. I was still scared and I couldn't find the courage to do it."

"But clearly you did so what made you change your mind?" said the Master having long stopped crying and calmed down.

"You did," said the Doctor bluntly. The Master blinked.

"I did?" he asked confused. The Doctor nodded.

"When I ran from the Time Vortex scared out of my wits you told me something that even to this day I keep with me," said the Time Lord getting up. "'I know you're scared, but when the time comes don't hesitate just act. Remember that and you can do anything.' And so I did and our people died."

"And you lived," the Master finished. The Doctor nodded.

"Not by choice. I was far enough away from what happened to survive it, but just barely," said the Doctor. "And so I've had Survivor's Guilt ever since. Because for all I know, my fear manifested itself in my subconscious and I purposely put myself just out of range enough to survive. I don't know."

The Doctor helped the Master to his feet.

"So you're right. Everything you have done I have done as well. So remember that the next time I say 'I Forgive You' because nothing you ever do could hope to match what I did that day," the Doctor swore. Once more both found themselves facing each other. The Last of their Kind. The Last of a Race of Legends. The Last of the Time Lords.

"Let's go," said the Doctor.

They went.

Prison: Commander Tarrant was taking point as Mel led the senior staff towards what they hoped was their shuttle.

"Keep moving," said Tarrant bravely as explosions rang out all around them. The group headed down a less damaged road as she immediately followed suit. Melanie was behind in the rear, but before she completely vanished into the shadows she took one last look in the direction of the Grove.

"_Be safe Doc_," she wished before she too vanished from sight.

The Source Chamber: Nyssa was hurriedly flipping everything she could on her board as the whole room shook repeatedly.

"I can rebuild," she fumed. "I can always rebuild."

A door slid open flooding light into the dark room as the Trakenite shielded her eyes while two individuals became visible with a massive rectangular box floating between them.

"I'm sorry Nyssa," the Doctor apologized. "But it's over."

Nyssa shook her head. "It's not over it will never be over until…"

"No it's over," said the Doctor, his calm voice overriding her ranting. "Hand of Omega…Fire."

From the coffin between them, two large orbs of energy shot out and went straight through the ceiling into the sky above and then into space.

"What have you done?" demanded Nyssa. The Doctor slowly shook his head sadly as the sunlight from above shifted shades accompanied by a strange sound of an explosion.

"I'm sorry Nyssa, I'm so sorry," the Time Lord apologized. "But what you just heard was the sound of Traken's sun going supernova. In moments Logopolis's sun will go the same way. In moments a level 12 shockwave will destroy both planets having emanated from their respective suns' destruction. This world is going to become nothing more than bits of rubble floating amongst space along with all the other worlds the entropy destroyed."

"But it won't," Nyssa swore with a manic grin on her face. "I still have the…"

"Source, I know," the Doctor nodded. "But not for much longer."

The Doctor held up his Sonic Screwdriver and aimed it at her. Nyssa laughed.

"You think that will stop me?" she said in disbelief. The Doctor shook his head.

"It's not meant to," he answered. "The only person who can give up the power of the source is you. And so you shall."

The Sonic Screwdriver lit up and Nyssa screamed.

_Traken: Tremas was laying out a blanket onto the grounds outside the capital of Traken while Kassia appeared carrying a basket. The sun was shining high in the sky and the weather was warm with small clouds in the air and a light wind spreading across the grounds whipping the grass back and forth. Nyssa bounded across the area waving happily to her family as she settled in with them. But before she could relay her exciting news, a shadow blotted out the sun. Looking up, the family watched in terror as countless saucer shaped objects streaked across the sky and out of them came column shaped objects. Some landed in front of them and Tremas stood up to greet them. _

_But before he could say anything, one of the objects fired a beam at him and he fell to the ground dead. Kassia was next to go as laser fire erupted everywhere destroying everything in sight. Nyssa ran and ran until she couldn't run anymore. Broken and exhausted she collapsed as fire streaked across the now nighttime sky. A shadow fell over her and Nyssa looked up terrified at a man with a long brown coat who was looking at her with pity before shaking his head as everything faded to white._

_Traken: Tremas was laying out a blanket onto the grounds outside the capital of Traken while Kassia appeared carrying a basket. The sun was shining high in the sky and the weather was warm with small clouds in the air and a light wind spreading across the grounds whipping the grass back and forth. Nyssa bounded across the area waving happily to her family as she settled in with them. But before she could relay her exciting news, the light shining on their picnic increased a thousand-fold. _

_Looking up, her family watched in a silent stupor as flames engulfed space itself and raced towards the planet below. The atmosphere caught on fire and soon Nyssa's skin was melting off of her face as she experienced pain like she had never felt before. With her dying breath, she saw a man with a brown coat standing there unphased by the flames with a look of pity on his face before he shook his head and everything went to white._

_Traken: Nyssa watched as if from out of time and space as her mother laid flowers at the foot of the Malkur statue. She heard as she talked to the statue and connived with it to bring about the end of the Traken Civilization and supplement Malkur's rise to power. She saw as a Police Box materialized in the Grove and a man with curly hair, another long coat, and a lengthy scarf exited with a younger man with black hair and explored the Grove. She saw as they were arrested for crimes they didn't commit, how they tried to stop Malkur from taking over the Source for evil. She saw her mother willingly sacrifice for the glory of Malkur and she saw the man with the scarf try and stop her. And he succeeded. He stopped the Source from being used for malicious intent and keep Traken safe._

_But then she watched in horror as her father approached a seemingly innocent alarm clock and froze in place. He cried out for Nyssa but she never came and she watched in terror as the clock face opened and out stepped a figure covered in a robe. Tremas and Nyssa could only watch in terror as the individual pulled back their hood to reveal Nyssa herself._

_And then everything faded to white as a single person walked through the white light. It was once more the man with the brown coat and he calmly held out his hand to Nyssa. The Trakenite looked at the man sadly and then gathered her courage and took his hand and he pulled her into the light._

Traken: Nyssa found herself once more in the Source Chamber and she was holding the Doctor's hand.

"You made it Nyssa, I'm proud of you," said the Doctor pleased. Nyssa shoulders sagged as if she had been relieved of a massive burden.

"What was that?" she asked. The Doctor shrugged.

"A little trick I picked up from some B'omarr monks," he responded. "Sometimes we have to relive what we fear the most in order to get past it."

Nyssa nodded and all seemed right again in the universe when…

WHOOP! WHOOP! WHOOP!

The Doctor and Nyssa turned to see the Master at the Source Controls.

"What have you done?" demanded the Doctor. Nyssa rushed to the controls, pushing the Master aside.

"He's deactivated the remaining CVEs, entropy is starting to build up!" she shouted in shock. The Master laughed evilly as the Doctor grabbed him by the collar.

"What did you do that for?" he shouted. The Master shoved the Doctor away from him.

"Because Doctor it's like I've been telling you," began the Time Lord. "I am the villain of this story!"

"Entropy is beginning to spread again!" Nyssa proclaimed. An image showed a wall of flame beginning to build up at the very edge of the universe.

"But you said you'd-," began the Doctor. The Master nodded.

"Yes I said I wouldn't do it again because I knew you'd stop me," the Master agreed as he fished around in his pocket for something. "And that's the point! You will stop the entropy Doctor and it'll give me more than enough time to get far away from here!"

The Master produced the device he'd been working on earlier, a crude Stattenheim Remote Control and pressed his TARDIS key against it that the Doctor had given him earlier. He whistled loudly as a tall stone column materialized behind him.

"It's the end of the universe again!" said the Master once more in a jovial mood. "Have fun! Bye bye!"

His expression then turned more reposed as he bolted into his TARDIS and it dematerialized before it once more rematerialized.

"Oh yeah did I forget to mention that this planet is going to explode anyway in ten minutes?" asked the Master curious. A laser blast rocketing past his head gave him the response to that question as he waved once more and the TARDIS again vanished.

"What do we do?" asked Nyssa helpless. The Doctor looked at the controls that had suddenly began sparking and then at her.

"Run," he said simply. The two took off out of the room.


	9. Sartorius

A/N: Hope you enjoyed the story I know I did. And thank you AMC for airing Hellfighters featuring John Wayne because without it I'd never have figured out how to finish this story. UPDATE: I changed this chapter. Originally I had the Doctor revealing that the Master was his brother after the Master reads the forward in _The Journal of Impossible Things_. I've sort of had a falling out/feel the story works better with them just being two friends thanks largely in part to Anakin and Obi-Wan's relationship in the Prequel Trilogy where the were brothers in arms but not blood related. So if you read the reviews and some of them allude to that fact well there you go. Hope the originally reviewers don't get tee'd off.

Traken: Mel and Commander Tarrant watched as the sun went supernova in the sky above them. They both looked at each other silently before quickly urging their comrades to move faster down the street towards the waiting shuttlecraft.

Grove: The Doctor raced past the destroyed Malkur statue as Nyssa did the same and both entered into the TARDIS as the Hand of Omega floated in behind them. The door closed and the machine dematerialized from time and space. Inside the Doctor raced around the center controls pressing various buttons and levers like he always did as the central column moved faster and faster.

"Where are we going?" asked Nyssa. The column died.

"We're here," answered the Doctor a little frantic as he raced out the doors. Nyssa followed confused before finding herself in a strangely translucent device.

"This is…," she began in shock as the Doctor bolted up a pair of translucent stairs.

"One of the CVEs I know," said the Doctor as he disappeared. Nyssa followed and found the Doctor in a strange control room swirling with all sorts of colors as he activated a device that defied explanation. He read whatever the screen was displaying and then reached his hand out to what qualified as the wall and moved his hand across it as if positioning unseen objects and then returned to his work.

"What're you doing?" asked Nyssa shivering. The Doctor continued working.

"I'm trying to figure out how much time we have between when the entropy spreads across the universe and the CVEs degrade," he responded before thinking about it for a moment. "Essentially a Charged Vacuum Embroitment is a device intended to funnel entropy into other universes. They can channel a lot of power and I'm hoping that even if entropy overtakes them, they'll still survive for awhile longer. If not, then there's no hope for saving the universe. It'll burn like the Earth, like Logopolis, like Traken…like Gallifrey."

The Doctor tossed those thoughts aside as he pressed more buttons. Nodding his head he then ran back into the TARDIS with Nyssa following and the thing once more vanished.

Traken: Sontaran, Rutan Host, and Cybermen ships were abandoning the planet in droves as the shockwave drew ever nearer.

"C'mon, we're out of time!" shouted Tarrant as the landing field appeared in view. But before the group could get to their ship, the TARDIS came hurtling out of the time stream and skidded along the ground before coming to a halt.

"No time for that now," said the Doctor poking his head out the doors as Tarrant and Mel looked at each other wondering what that meant before ordering their crew inside the device as it vanished and the shockwave then ripped the planet and the enemy forces to shreds.

Inside the TARDIS, the crew of the _Data Tracker_ looked in surprise at the larger inside of the ship while Mel and Tarrant eyed Nyssa cautiously.

"Relax, she's been rehabilitated," the Doctor responded intent on his controls. The two then noticed the absence of the Master.

"He deactivated the CVEs and fled. Now entropy is building up once more and the whole universe is in danger," the Doctor responded reluctantly. Tarrant and Mel didn't know how to take this news.

"Where's my ship?" Tarrant asked instead. If it had been destroyed…

"That's where we're headed," the Doctor answered. "They took off right before the shockwave hit. Talk about loyalty."

Tarrant shook her head. "That's standard procedure, they'd better have left or I would've killed them myself."

The Doctor didn't have a response to this he just kept working on his console.

"So Doc do you have a plan to get us out of this?" asked Mel hopeful. The Doctor looked up and then back down at his controls.

"We'll see," he responded non-committal. That answer wasn't to Mel's liking.

"What does that..," she began.

"It means we'll see!" the Doctor snapped. Heads turned at that but then returned to their own selves.

"Mel I'm not the Doctor you knew," said the Doctor tensely. "I can't just think up a plan ahead of time and then move the pieces accordingly to then watch everything fall together at the end. These days I run from problem to problem and somehow come up with a solution in the end."

"Well that's not going to work now is it?" Mel responded upset. The Doctor looked up at her and both shared a look as if having a non-verbal debate and then the Time Lord broke it off.

"When this light turns on, press this button and you'll materialize on the bridge of the Commander's ship," the Doctor stated as he pointed to the panel. "I'll be around."

He left the central chamber and the others behind.

_The Data Tracker_: Lieutenant Commander Gorram was sitting in the captain's seat staring blankly at the streaking starlines while the ship moved at speeds well beyond light speed. The officer was still in a lucid state as he once more considered the decision he had made. He wasn't sure how he was going to be able to explain it to Central Command, and he wasn't even sure if he could. He had left his commanding officer to die on Traken and even though it had been standard procedure for what he had done, it was still no excuse in his eyes. He should've sent down marines earlier to retrieve the commander, but SOP gave a strict timeline for such things and by the time that time had come it was already too late. And so the ship was now outrunning the now dissipating shockwave headed back to civilized space.

Assuming there was any still left. The jamming had died when Traken was destroyed and with it came information of something akin to entropy being detected at the far end of the universe. But that was impossible and yet there was the proof clear as day. Gorram wasn't sure what to make of that either and it was beginning to get a bit much. Especially since he was the last of the senior staff still on this ship, he couldn't really talk to anyone about it.

WHORP WHORP WHORP

Gorram looked up in surprise as something similar to a blue police box materialized on the right side of the bridge near the viewscreen. The remaining crew looked at it as if they actually had died from the shockwave as the doors open and the senior staff poured out of it.

"Gorram," said Commander Tarrant as the surprised officer gave up the seat for her. "What's our status?"

"W-we're headed back to civilized space," responded Gorram trying to maintain his professional manner.

"Good because we have a problem," began Tarrant.

"Entropy," responded Gorram knowingly. Tarrant looked up at him.

"It's started?" she asked concerned. Gorram shrugged uncertain.

"We're not sure," he said. "But something's happening. We got back in touch with Central and they're…concerned to say the least with the telemetry they've received."

"I completely agree," said Tarrant a bit resigned. "This isn't something you can run away from."

Gorram didn't have a response to that. It was one thing to know that you might die at any moment but another to know that you _were_ going to die and very shortly. And in the most horrible way possible, by being flat out atomized.

"Do we…have a plan?" asked Gorram curious.

"We'll see," said Tarrant just barely stopping herself from rolling her eyes.

TARDIS: The Doctor was once more in the spare console room pondering his options as he could feel the life force of the universe beginning to drain away. He was so far gone that he didn't notice the blinking light on his panel until it began beeping. Reaching over the Time Lord pressed the switch and then sighed as a voice came over the intercom.

"What's wrong Doctor?" gloated the Master. "All dressed up and nowhere to go?"

"I can't fix this you idiot!" the Doctor yelled at him. "It was hard enough to fix it the last time and now you've made things worse!"

"You always did have an excuse for everything Doctor," came the Master's disappointed response. "But I'm not here to trade barbs with you, not this time."

"Oh really?" said the Doctor doubtful.

"Oh yes," said the Master amused. "I've actually come to a realization. You see I unfortunately have to admit that most of my plans have failed. Do you know why?"

The Doctor laughed hysterically at this. "Because you-."

"Because I have no money, yes you're correct," said the Master not letting him finish that sentence. "So I need money and since I'm not about to hold up a bank because I need a long term source of capital, I need alternate sources of revenue. So I'm thinking about investing."

The Doctor found it doubtful the Master would ever bother with a long-term plan but he decided to play along to whatever the conclusion was. At least it would take his mind off the universe being about to end.

"Well in that case I'd be rather bullish in the market of Ding Dongs and Ho Hos," said the Doctor chuckling to himself. That comic he'd read all those years ago had been rather amusing.

"Yes well I'm not in the market for perishable goods," commented the Master shuffling some unseen object.

"I wouldn't dismiss Hostess products I've heard some interesting things about Twinkies surviving nuclear blasts," said the Doctor not entirely giving up before sighing deeply. "Maybe they'll survive entropy as well."

The Doctor once more returned to his sullen disposition as more shuffling was heard over the speaker.

"What are you doing?" demanded the Time Lord to his unseen adversary.

"I'm reading a newspaper I just picked up that says there's a huge market for whale oil and blubber in the future," said the Master. The Doctor sat up at this.

"Wha-, there's no future in that!" he shouted.

"Of course there is!" the Master protested. "Isn't that what everything runs on in the future?"

The Doctor's expression turned to one of bewilderment. "You're seriously telling me you think everything petroleum based on the Earth runs off of whales?"

"…Yes," said the Master's slow response. "Isn't that right? Maybe?"

"No you fool, they used fossil fuels to replace whale oil!" shouted the Doctor exasperated. Silence followed that.

"But Doctor…," began the Master in a hushed tone. "That's a non-renewable resource. It'll peter out in a few years."

The Doctor rolled his eyes. "And you're seriously telling me that whale blubber is different?"

"Well with the right breeding practices…," began the other Time Lord sheepishly.

"Just invest in crude oil," said the Doctor wishing to end this already confusing conversation.

"But I'm still concerned," said the Master honestly. "When a well is finally discovered and it gushes into the air, what if it catches on fire? Wouldn't it keeping burning until the well ran dry? How does that help me?"

"Well of course you can stop an oil well fire," said the Doctor dismissively. "All you'd have to do is-."

The realization hit the Doctor like a diamond bullet to the brain and he held his head in pain with his Sonic Screwdriver clattering to the floor.

"Doctor?" asked the Master feigning confusion. The Time Lord leaned forward on the console.

"I'm hanging up," he said refusing to admit defeat.

"Don't you dare!" protested the Master with false anger. "I still have questions!"

"Goodbye!" said the Doctor amused.

"You owe me for this," said the Master before the line went dead. The Doctor left the room.

The distant past: The Master smiled and shut the cellular phone closed before re-entering the boardroom.

"Well Mr. Harkness, have you made your decision?" asked the man at the front of the large table.

"Yes Mr. Rockefeller, I think I will invest in Standard Oil as a purely silent partner," said the Master, using his current alias Steven W. Harkness, with a malicious grin. "Though I think I may have some interesting business practices you might want to consider…"

The Future: The Doctor emerged from the TARDIS to the hopes of the entire crew of the _Data Tracker_. The two groups stared at each other for a few moments.

"Yes I have a plan," he said finally. Cheers erupted from the crew as the Doctor instantly felt embarrassed while Mel gave him a sympathetic smile.

"How far are we from Earth?" the Time Lord asked.

"Months," said Tarrant helplessly. The Doctor went back into the TARDIS and re-emerged carrying a pair of heavy cables.

"We're about to get there a lot faster," he stated.

The Master's TARDIS: The time machine hurtled through time and space headed for destinations unknown. The Time Lord was counting the money he had made out of the deal with his money counting machine. He had become a billionaire literally overnight as he merely placed all of his earnings into various bank accounts up and down time and space where interest was the greatest and let it sit there collecting interest until he made a complete withdrawal and placed it elsewhere.

But now he was bored. He had the money to cause some real damage but it wasn't worth doing without someone to stop him. Though the Master didn't like to admit it, the most enjoyable part of his plans came when they _were_ foiled. He'd set up intricate plans over the years that no one should have been able to stop and yet the Doctor had foiled them all. Even the last one with the Toclafane. No one knew the truth about them except for the Doctor. And the Master had done everything short of killing him to stop the Time Lord from interfering with his plans and still he'd pulled it off.

But now… Now the Master wasn't sure if the Doctor had pulled it off and that worried him. But if he went to find out he could die. Entropy didn't take any prisoners.

"_What to do, what to do, what to do,_" the Master wondered as he continued counting his money until he suddenly had the impression he was being watched. Looking up, he yelled in terror as his money flew everywhere before he began breathing heavily and calmed down. Inside the control room was an enigmatic being simply called 'The Watcher'. The Master didn't know who or what he was simply that he existed and that he was a nuisance.

"What do you want?" demanded the Master.

The Watcher didn't respond, he never did instead he waved his hands around and produced a piece of paper from out of thin air.

"No," said the Master shaking his head vigorously as the Watcher drifted over to him and floated the piece of paper down right in front of him. The Master only had to take a brief glance at it to know it was the reconstructed foreward of _The Journal of Impossible Things_ by _John Smith_.

"This blackmail won't work on me!" the Master refuted waving the piece of paper around. "The Doctor didn't write this, John Smith wrote this."

The Watcher looked at him doubtfully. The Master just stared right back unmoving.

The Watcher for his part silently mouthed three words and three words only.

The Master sighed.

The Watcher smiled.

It was going to be a long trip.

Earth: _The Data Tracker_ dematerialized out of time and space and was immediately swarmed by Space Corp. fighters before explanations were made and they returned to their berths. In the conference room the Doctor sat with the senior staff and the President of the Space Corp. Jayeesh Inyo.

"A long time ago humans used to use crude oil that gushed out of the ground as a form of fuel," explained the Time Lord. "But sometimes what would happen would be that the gusher would catch on fire. The problem being that with a nearly inexhaustible fuel source, it could potentially burn for a long time. But it didn't because the hellfighters, the firemen who deal with oil blazes, managed to put them out. There were quite a few ways but the most often used was to place an explosive inside the gushing fire and detonate it thus starving the flames of oxygen and killing the fire. That's a big simplistic of a description but it worked for them and it's going to work for us now. Only instead of an oil gusher we have entropy and instead of dynamite we have the CVEs."

The crew considered this option skeptically.

"But there's no oxygen in space," began Jefferson. The Doctor nodded.

"That's right but there is an equivalent to it that I know due to being a Time Lord. And blowing up the CVEs will halt the fire from consuming the universe," responded the former President Elect of Gallifrey.

"I don't know…," continued Jefferson unsure.

"Look," said the Doctor cutting in annoyed. "Theirs not to make reply, Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die. That's all you have to worry about right now."

Mel didn't like that statement but what could she do, the universe was about to die.

"So what do you need us for?" asked Tarrant.

"I need access to the Archangel Network," the Doctor asked simply. "I know that in the years since the project was launched that it's grown considerably to expand its range to nearly the entire known universe. I'll need that because the old Pharos Project isn't going to be able to reach all the CVEs in time."

"Oh is that all?" said Mel doubtful. The Doctor chuckled nervously.

"I'll have to journey to each CVE to prep them for detonation," the Doctor answered nervously. "They were built to last because if they died the universe would too."

President Inyo finally spoke up. "Then presumably if the null space was itself engulfed by entropy at some point that means some of these 'Embroitments' had to have failed correct?"

"Yes…," said the Doctor not liking this conversation already.

"Do you know how that happened?" inquired the President. "I would hate for something like this to happen again. Or should I say a third time."

"I don't know how they failed," said the Doctor using his best poker face and his most nonchalant tone. "Only that they did and that the Master and I had to fix it. Which we did, barely."

"The…Master?" asked President Inyo confused.

"My partner," answered the Doctor. "He…accidentally activated the Embroitments when he was trying to shut them down. He subsequently fled in fear for what he had done."

"I see…," said the President deeply troubled by this. Mel, Tarrant, and Nyssa were about to protest that statement but a look from the Doctor cut them off.

"Look it doesn't matter _I'm_ going to fix it and then it'll be done with and I'll be out of your hair," said the Time Lord anxious to get moving. He'd spent too much time in this timeframe as it was and he was getting what humans referred to as 'cabin fever'. He needed to get going and soon.

"Very well," said the President also wanting to save the universe and also his career as a politician. Plus being the man who saved the universe always looked good in a re-election campaign since this 'Time Lord' didn't seem to want to take any credit for it. The Doctor nodded.

"Good I'll provide you with the information necessary for your end of the operation and I'll go fix things with the CVEs," said the Gallifreyan pleased, rubbing his hands together anxiously. Everyone spoke affirmatively and then the screen went dead and everyone headed for the bridge.

The Master's TARDIS: The rogue Time Lord was playing a game of Solitaire with real playing cards that he'd picked up in the 1800s when he'd made that deal with John D. Rockefeller and his associates. Sitting nearby was The Watcher, still as pale as ever in his white ensemble. The Time Lord refused to bow down to the 'The Meddler's' wishes and so he was doing whatever he could to keep busy and not think about it.

Pharos Project: The Doctor had just finished his explanations of what needed to be done to the radio receiver.

"All right, let's go Nyssa," said the Doctor heading for the TARDIS. Nyssa stepped inside the TARDIS and the Doctor nearly was the same when Mel slammed her hand against the TARDIS.

"Why?" she asked, her unsaid question about the Doctor's defending the Master. The Doctor carefully considered how to answer that.

"Because he's the only one I have left," and he left it at that. Mel looked down sadly as the Doctor paused and then entered into the TARDIS and it slowly dematerialized away.

"Be safe Doc," she said like always, wiping a tear away, and then she headed for the antenna with the others.

The edge of the Universe: The CVEs surged with power from the remaining backup systems and then abruptly died as the flames erupted from them heading towards the center of the universe. They immediately engulfed the newer planets on the edges of the newer formed galaxies and proceeded to consume the newly formed galaxies and head onwards towards the more populated ones.

The Master's TARDIS: The Cloister Bell began ringing and the Time Lord plugged his ears and began muttering to himself so he didn't have to hear its clanging. To his expectations, the Watcher had vanished, no longer needed to remind the Master of just what it was he had done. But the Master wasn't about to bow down, this _wasn't_ his problem. He just needed to be strong enough to not deal with it.

CVE: The translucent device was now pulsing bright red with alarms blaring everywhere in a complete reversal of the earlier scene. The Doctor moved out into the main control room and began pressing down on various spots on the control console as Nyssa did the same on another.

"But I don't understand," said Nyssa. "Why are we doing this _now_, why not a few hours ago?"

"Because a few hours ago you were still bent on destroying the universe," answered the Time Lord still frantically pressing buttons as the sound of groaning was heard all around them. "If these things were rigged to blow you would've known and things may have gone differently back on Traken. I'm not going to risk that."

"So you can't change time?" asked Nyssa surprised. The Doctor shook his head as he closed a panel of pure energy.

"Not anymore," he revealed. "When the Time Lords were still around we could, but…without them it's near impossible. Any attempts to change history are met with…consequences."

The Gallifreyan took one last look around the CVE and nodded as a small explosion rocked the side and headed back to the TARDIS. The device dematerialized and rematerialized in another CVE and the two exited it.

"So no saving Traken?" asked Nyssa saddened. The Doctor shook his head as he pressed on various places on the wall made of energy.

"And no saving the Time Lords either," he added as he opened up a transparent portion of the wall revealing the flames of entropy racing by. He closed it and then both re-entered into the TARDIS. Another CVE.

"How did they perish?" asked Nyssa. "With the entropy?"

"No," said the Time Lord. "They died saving the universe from evil."

"…Yet the Master survived," the Traken seethed. The Doctor looked at her and sighed.

"He fought in the War too," he responded. "We all did, friend and foe to stop them. The Rani, the Meddling Monk, Romana, the Master, myself, all the Time Lords we stood up as one and we fought as one. And then everyone lost. But that you or anyone else is alive today is a testament to what we did. A gift no one will ever know about."

"Like Traken," Nyssa stated ashamed. "A world that provided peace to countless star systems gone in a flash, never to be remembered again."

The two re-entered into the TARDIS and emerged in another CVE.

"That's why you have to make sure they remember Traken," revealed the Time Lord. "There are numerous worlds out there fighting without end and we just met three of them. You can use what you learned by being a member of the Traken League and apply it to other worlds and create your own Traken League. Make people know Traken for peace and prosperity not as a world that sought to wipe out all the others amongst the stars."

That gave Nyssa food for thought as they went to another CVE.

"But I'm too old," began Nyssa wanting to think of a legitimate excuse not to undertake such a task. The Doctor laughed.

"Look at me then," he shot back. "I'm well over 1000 years old and on my tenth out of thirteen bodies but I'm here saving the universe once again. I don't want the Time Lords to just fade into obscurity to only be known as 'a pompous race; ancient, dusty senators, so frightened of change and chaos' that they were 'peaceful to the point of indolence'. I'm proud to be a Time Lord and I don't want that to be the lasting memory of my people."

"But I'm only one person, you were nine previously and still have three more to go," said Nyssa still trying to search for an excuse but was secretly moved by the Doctor's words. A thought occurred to the Doctor and he briefly smiled at it. Another CVE.

"Yes but If you make yourself more than just a Traken, if you devote yourself to an ideal and if they can't stop you, you become something else entirely...," he began mystically.

"Which is?" asked Nyssa in a hushed tone.

"A legend Mr. Wayne," responded the Doctor chuckling. And then the entire CVE rocked hard with sparks flying everywhere.

"C'mon we've got several more left and we're almost out of time!" he said racing for the TARDIS as the CVE bobbed in a sea of fire.

Earth: Mel and Tarrant were making various modifications to the receiver array on the Pharos Project in a secluded room as others did the same all over the device.

"The entropy's started," said Tarrant finally breaking the silence.

"Oh," responded her coworker distantly. Tarrant looked at her.

"Something on your mind?" she asked. "About the Doctor defending the Master?"

"I just don't understand those two," said Mel distracted. "The Doctor defends the Master every chance he get and yet the Master clearly would never do the same. It just doesn't make any sense, it doesn't."

"Yeah it does," answered Tarrant knowingly. "You do stupid things for family, believe me I know."

Mel snorted at that. "Don't be ridiculous the Doctor and the Master aren't related."

"Could've fooled me," said Tarrant shrugging her shoulders. "What makes you so sure they aren't?"

"The Doctor told me," Mel responded. "I asked him it once as a joke and he just responded that I'd been spending too much time on the internet."

Tarrant thought about it. "So he didn't say, no, then?"

"No but-," began Mel trying to protest her line of thought.

Tarrant laughed. "It's only a thought Mel."

Mel nodded, her attention now back on her work.

"What about you, any family?" asked Tarrant curious. Mel nodded.

"I have a younger brother and sister," she answered. Tarrant smiled.

"That's cute," she responded. "What're they up to?"

"My brother's a chemical engineer," said Mel, slightly lying since he worked on an oil platform and oil hadn't been used for centuries by this date. "And my sister…well she mostly travels the wor…universe doing what she pleases."

"Do you ever miss them?" asked Tarrant.

"All the time," Mel admitted.

"And do you think the Doctor ever misses the Master?" asked Stephanie slyly.

"All the-hey!" shouted Mel as Tarrant began laughing again. Mel growled briefly before both returned to their work in better spirits than before.

The Master's TARDIS: The screen showed flames tearing across the cosmos as the Time Lord watched it burn. Looking down at his control panel, the Master flipped a lever and the central time column began operating.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust," quoted the Master taking his drink and holding it out at the image before gulping it all down.

"Like I told you before, I win old friend," he said with just a hint of remorse as he sat the drink down on the console.

CVE: The device was on the verge of falling apart as fire was roaring in at various places and the translucent colors were swirling madly around the device. It was into this maelstrom that the TARDIS dematerialized.

"Quickly, quickly," the Doctor ordered. Nyssa reluctantly moved out into the chaos of the control room as it exploded around them.

"Doctor I'm-," began Nyssa with the rest silenced by a deafening explosion.

"Scared I know," acknowledged the Time Lord. "We all are. But we can't stop now or else no one will ever be scared again."

Nyssa nodded and slowly went to work as the Doctor did as well. They were still working as cracks began appearing in the skin of the CVE.

"Doctor…," bean Nyssa needing to get this out now. "The Master…how…why…"

The Doctor knew what she was asking and sighed as flames briefly raced out from the nearby wall.

"Like I told you back on Logopolis when it all started," he said. "I don't choose the company I keep. And I didn't include the Master in that assessment for reasons other than what you probably thought at the time."

"But after all he's done, after all he's…," began Nyssa. "How can you still forgive him?"

"I don't have a choice," the Doctor admitted. "But don't mistake forgiveness for approval. I will save him."

This time fire erupted nearby and wasn't extinguished.

"You'd better get in the TARDIS," the Doctor advised. Nyssa didn't even wait to respond she just bolted into the machine and shut the door behind her. The Doctor continued on his work trying to ignore the death of the universe around him. He continued making modifications to the control panel as translucent girders fell all around him.

"Doctor, there's a bell ringing in here!" said Nyssa over the outer speaker with the bell in the background.

"Just ignore it, it'll stop soon," the Doctor said trying to reassure her. He had disabled the bell after it had first rung but if it was ringing now then that meant the final hour of the universe was near. More explosions tore up the area as the TARDIS swayed heavily in the whirlwind.

"Doctor!" shouted Nyssa terrified as the speaker blew out on the device. He looked at it sadly as the alarms continued to blare while flames surrounded the Gallifreyan device. Knowing that he had only one choice left he lifted the Sonic Screwdriver to his mouth.

Pharos Project: "All done," said Tarrant pleased as she wiped off her hands. She was in the main control booth with Mel and the rest of her senior staff.

"Great now where's the-," began the former companion when the speakers came on.

"Peoples of the Universe, please attend carefully. The message that follows is vital to the future of you all. Right now your universe faced its gravest threat in the form of mutual incineration by entropy. From here on out the choice for you all is simple; a continued existence in peace or you will face total annihilation by your own hands," came the Doctor's voice. "So remember that you could have lost everything today and that a Doctor saved you. See that history doesn't forget the name…Time Lord."

The TARDIS dematerialized in the room and the group expected the Doctor to appear, instead they got a shell shocked Nyssa.

"He's still back there!" she shouted vainly. Mel and Tarrant looked at each other frantic before hitting the radio switch.

"Where's the entropy wave?" they shouted into it.

"Oh it's uh-it's nearly reached the first of the deep space probes," came the startled response. Mel looked at Tarrant.

"We can't-," she began. Tarrant looked at the speaker box and then at her.

"We don't have the time," she said frantic. "If we don't do it now, people will die."

Mel looked around desperately when the speaker came back on.

"Don't worry about me Mel," came the Doctor's voice with explosions in the background. "I'd gladly die to save the universe, you know that. In fact I have died to save the universe so that makes the decision all the much more easier."

"Doc," said Mel nearly in tears.

"You will do what's right, you always have and you always will," said the Doctor simply. Mel nodded.

"Hit it," she ordered feeling sick inside. Tarrant wasn't happy about it either but what choice did either have? She nodded to her first officer and he through the switch. Across space, a signal was sent detonating the CVEs in a triumphant explosion the likes of which was seen on every planet in the entire universe. Though no one knew it at the time, the explosion proved to everyone that there were forces greater than their own and everyone else. Peace and prosperity would soon reign throughout the universe as enemies laid down their arms and engaged in brotherhood for fear that one day their warring could create an equivalent to what they had just seen. In time, the sacrifice of the Doctor would cause many to erect statues of the mysterious man and to speak in awe of his mysterious race. But in time the statues would crumble and the memories would fade, but the peace would remain, the final legacy of the Time Lords.

Time passed…

Somewhere: The Doctor lazily opened his eyes and looked up groggily at the white light around him. A figure emerged from the whiteness and looked down at him. It was an older man dressed in a ceremonial red Gallifreyan Robe complete with headdress.

"F-father…," said the Doctor in a hushed tone.

"Hardly," said the Gallifreyan with a different yet familiar voice. The Doctor's image blurred before refocusing on the Master as he leaned over the Time Lord.

"Just the constant thorn in your side," the Time Lord continued. The Doctor groaned and rubbed his eyes.

"Good hunting?" inquired the Master knowingly. The Doctor looked up at him as the Master helped him to his feet.

"Yes. It would've been too easy," he agreed wryly. "It seems we must always meet again."

"They do say opposites attract," responded the Master.

"But this is the end Master," came the Doctor's answer. "And now at last, I can finally destroy you."

The Doctor through his hands on the Master's throat as if to strangle him before dropping them to his shoulders and then both hugged each other.

"Oy your 'niceties' are rubbing off on me," the Master complained as they broke apart, utterly disgusted with himself. "I never used to be like this."

"Yeah you were," said the Doctor walking over to the controls and looking at them. "So why'd you save me?"

The Master also walked up to the controls and leaned against them. "Believe me when I say I really want to see you die for once and not come back. It was fifty-fifty for me whether or not to save you."

"So what tipped the balance?" asked the Doctor genuinely curious. Usually if the Master was hung on a decision he just wouldn't make it. The Time Lord produced the piece of paper from earlier.

"This," he answered as he handed it to the Time Lord. The Doctor looked at it surprised.

"I didn't detect your TARDIS on Traken before it blew," he said surprised.

"It's because of that damned Watcher that I have this," the Master answered annoyed before his expression softened. "But…I don't know. It's not like you wrote it, John Smith did."

The Doctor shrugged. "But I _am_ John Smith just like _you_ are Professor Yana. They were vessels for ourselves that's where that came from. I may never have written it as I am, but…it is the truth."

The Master read the description one last time.

"The following _Journal of Impossible Things_ is dedicated to someone only in my memories. He is long gone now but he will never leave my thoughts. I may be the Doctor of all things, but I will always strive to be the Master of everything just like he was. He was my only friend as a child, the only one I knew I could count on when things turned bad and when no one else would help me. And he always came to my rescue when I needed him. So it is with a heavy heart that I write the following because he will never truly know how I really felt about him. How despite all the evil he did, despite all the lives he took, that I still forgive him for all of that and I always will. For he is the closest thing to family that I have ever known."

Tears began forming in the Doctor's eyes at hearing the description.

"I guess in short," the Master continued. "When all is said and done I just wanted him to know that wherever he was that I will always miss him and perhaps more importantly because I never said it enough…"

"That I will always love him," continued the Doctor fighting back the tears.

"Your dearest friend, John Smith," concluded the Master dropping his arm with the paper floating to the floor. Silence continued at that.

"Sentimental nonsense, that's all," said the Doctor trying to downplay the page for the Master's sake. "You can tear it up if you want to. Because you're right, your enemies would never let you live it down."

The Master gingerly held up the page before folding it once more and placing it in his inner coat pocket.

"No," he resolved. "This shall provide excellent blackmail against you for the future."

The Doctor nodded slightly with a melancholy smile on his face.

"So where too now?" asked the Doctor wanting to change the subject. The Master looked up at the central time column.

"We're headed for your TARDIS," responded the Time Lord heading for the exit. "We'll be there soon enough and then we shall go our separate ways until we one day meet again as enemies."

"Great," said the Doctor a little unsure how to take it but at least things would return to the most normal they'd been since the Time War, for better or worse. "Just great."

The Master was almost to the doors when he stopped and sighed.

"He did as well you know," he stated, not facing the Doctor but answering his unanswered burning question. "Getting that rocket into space using the gravity pulse and using equipment that relied on ketchup and other food materials to operate it. He wasn't the one who found out how to do that; someone taught him that once, lifetimes ago. I think his name was John Smith too. Wonder if he was the same person."

The Doctor looked up and looked at the Master and he smiled grateful for that little bit of insight of the inner workings of Professor Yana. The Master vanished leaving two Time Lords alone with their thoughts.

Earth: Mel and Tarrant were sitting at the command console after everyone had left to go celebrate their continued survival.

"Stephanie," began Tarrant. Mel snapped out of her reverie and looked at her. Tarrant looked at her.

"My name's Stephanie, I don't know if I ever told you that before," she stated. Melanie nodded.

"And together we're anies," commented Mel before both began chuckling. A figure appeared in the doorway and approached them. Stephanie got up and hugged the person.

"Oh it's good to see you again Jill," said Stephanie before turning to Mel. "Melanie, this is my sister Jill. Jill this is Mel, a friend I met out there in deep space."

"Oh hello Mel," said Jill Tarrant amicably as she shook the woman's hand. "So I heard you both met the Doctor. Wasn't he something?"

"Yeah," Tarrant agreed. "Guess your story about him was true."

"You met the Doctor?" asked Mel curious.

"Of course she did," came a new voice. "And we had an adventure then too."

The trio turned to see the Doctor standing by the entrance with a smile when Nyssa walked in astonished.

"Doctor," they all said and rushed him. The Time Lord laughed.

"Didn't think you could get rid of me that easily did you?" he asked. "Escaping the end of the universe? Please, that's child's play for us Time Lords."

"So how did you?" began Nyssa curious. The Doctor waved it off.

"Doesn't matter, only the future matters now because you've now gotten a whole new lease on life," the Doctor pointed out. "So what're you going to do with it?"

The quartet thought about it.

"I'm not going back to the Nosferatu II," Melanie decided. "Glitz can find his own way to manage, I'm going to join the Space Corp. and travel the cosmos not having to worry about the ship falling apart."

"You've always been a valuable asset to me," said the Doctor agreeing. "They'll be lucky to have you aboard."

"Well I'm going to work less," Stephanie decided. "This adventure made me realize I don't take enough vacation time to just enjoy life. I've accumulated a mass of shore leave and I intend to take it. Then whatever happens after that happens."

"Well that sounds like a promotion," the Doctor said cryptically.

"I'm going to spend more time with her," said Jill simply. The Doctor nodded and turned to Nyssa. The Traken thought about it.

"I'm will try and locate everyone who might have survived from the Traken Union and then see about joining the Diplomatic Corp. to try and bring peace to the universe," she decided and grinned for the first time in a long while. The Doctor nodded and patted her on the shoulder.

"You always were brave Nyssa," he decreed. And then with a somewhat heavy heart and at having to go a different way he headed for the TARDIS doors.

"So what are you going to do?" asked Jill. The Doctor thought about it.

"Dunno," he answered pleased. "And that's all right with me."

He was about into the doors when Mel stopped him once more.

"I guess I was wrong about him," she answered. The Doctor looked at her.

"We all were," he answered. "But…that's what makes life more interesting."

The Doctor opened the doors and pressed in.

"Is he…," began Mel once more. The Doctor faced her.

"Too much internet Mel, too much internet. Just don't forget that time and tide, melt the snowman," he responded and laughed as the doors shut and the TARDIS dematerialized. Mel shook her head mildly amused and looked at the empty space.

"Until we meet again Doc," she swore and left with the others to their new lives.

Time Corridor: Two TARDIS ripped through the Time Stream, an event that hadn't occurred since in millennia.

"Well I kept up my end of the bargain by not telling them how I survived," said the Doctor to the viewscreen featuring the Master. "So what's your next move?"

"I don't know," confessed the Master. "But it will be interesting. You do know we'll be enemies then."

The Doctor nodded with a genuine grin. "And once more I will stop you."

The Master shot him an evil grin. "You will try."

"And I will succeed," the Doctor promised as the screen went dead…and then immediately flipped back on.

"Last one to Alpha Centauri buys the drinks," the Master added before cackling evilly. The Doctor spun around and ran back to his console and furiously began pressing everything in sight.

In the Time Stream two TARDIS exploded forward jockeying for position, racing towards the future. And so perhaps even the entropy managed to affect even the most powerful race in the universe as for one moment, two enemies were finally able to set aside their differences and act like the brothers they practically were.

A/N: Needless to say with the edits mentioned above, the below A/N is mostly moot but I'll leave it in for the sake of completeness. For those keeping track, I added a line in 'For he is the closest thing to family that I have ever known' or something along those lines and 'your dear friend' instead of 'brother'. There's also a minute edit at the very end from 'the friends they were' to the 'brothers they practically were'. Ultimately all echoing to the whole 'You were my brother Anakin! I loved you." I think it works better if the Doctor is trying to save his friend because he's doing it by choice unlike with a brother where it might seem like an obligation of sorts.

I was heavily debating it for the longest time to go with the ending that I did. I've done the brother bit before in my other story(of which this isn't connected continuity-wise) but was really hung in regards to this one. But in the end I decided to go with it for better or worse. And I also set forth a goal to not mention the Daleks once in this story and I nearly got away with it as I think there was only one time their name was spelled out, the rest was all just illusions and references to them but no spelling out. Also, apologies to the Master not being that evil in this story. He did do some evil but not as much as I would've liked to the point that I had to up it. Nyssa was originally going to throw the switch to start the entropy and the Master would just cut and run. Instead I had him throw it which I think was the better choice as it gave me a chance to resolve Nyssa's storyline.

Anyway I hope you enjoyed it and even if you didn't and want to voice your opinion please do. I accept flames because they can be just as helpful as positive reviews. Or don't leave a review and just PM me. I'm not someone obsessed with reviews, I just really want to hear people's opinions on the subject. So peace and rock on. I may write one final Doctor Who story but after a rumor I just read about Series 4 I may not do it. So we'll see.


End file.
